How To Bake Bread, Maime People And Fall In Love
by There She Goes And Shes Comin
Summary: When Katniss and Peeta, the local stalker, get thrown into the Hunger Games, they thought their less-than-stellar mentor, Woody Haymitch, dubious winner of the 50th Hunger Games, was their only problem. Elsewhere Cato finds love in the form of District 1's Glimmer, but with rabid Thresh, Peeta's bakery for bread-hungry Careers and clashing ideals the odds are not in their favour...
1. Peeta The Stalker

**I've only seen the movie (stop hitting me!) so sorry if I miss stuff, but I hope this is okay. This might be the worse chapter, but I do have some stuff for Haymitch. **

**To all those who read 'The Perseus Attraction' I'm not giving up, and you were expecting this to happen. Please review, and get this off the ground. **

**This is for Kirkia-Hime, with who I have happily made fun of the franchise. **

Katniss walked away from her house towards the forest, where she hoped to find some game to kill.

As she walked, she thought about her sister, moaning about how she might be picked for the damn games. Katniss had got sick of her moaning, so she'd decided to get out. I mean, Katniss could see how they were bad, but it didn't do anyone any good to complain.

She walked past the bakery, hoping not to run into Peter Bread. No-one really knew his second name, but since his first name sounded like 'Pita' he'd been christened as 'Peeta Bread'. He was also a class A stalker, and he seemed to have picked Katniss as his latest target.

She got to the edge of the building, before she hid behind it, looking out to see if she could catch a glimpse of Peeta. She couldn't see anyone, which was a relief.

"Hey Katniss."

She whipped around, looking to see Peeta standing there in his apron.

Now, Peeta wasn't ugly or anything, with his blond hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders, but he was just a weirdo.

"Hey Peeta," Katniss replied awkwardly.

"No, it's 'Peter'. Not 'Peeta'."

"Oh? Sorry Peeta."

"No, 'Peter'." He corrected again.

"Sorry."

He waved it away. "It's okay. Hey! Where are you going?"

Katniss shrugged. "Nowhere, just forget you saw me."

Peeta moved closer. "Are you sure? It's good to see you. I was watching while you sung to your sister."

Katniss nodded. "Oh yeah… weren't we alone in our house?"

Peter looked confused. "What's your point?"

Katniss looked around nervously. "I need to meet Gale… so…"

"Is he the tall, good looking one?"

Katniss nodded. "A bit."

Peeta nodded. "Good, I just wanted to know… in case."

Katniss knew who she'd peg for the winner in a fight, but she kept silent.

Peeta didn't though. "Hey, did you see me?"

Katniss shook her head. "What?"

"I snuck up on you! It was because of my camouflage!"

"Errr…"

"See?" He pointed at a bit of paint on his chin. "I blend in! I painted myself to look like my surroundings."

Katniss frowned. "But the surroundings are green."

Peter looked puzzled. "And?"

"That paint's red."

Peeta touched it. "It's camouflage…"

Katniss could see a Peter was about to cry. "I know, and it's _really_ good!" She grinned. "I mean, I can barely see you now!"

Peeta looked happier at this. "Oh, cool. So, I was wondering…"

Katniss started fidgeting. "Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected. "Anyways, the Capitol are doing this whole 'reaping' thing today, and I wondered if you wanted to stand next to me."

He looked at her hopefully.

She screwed up her face like she was really upset, but really, she was thinking on her feet.

"I'm so sorry! I'm already standing next to Gale!"

"Oh," he looked down, before looking up happily. "How about your other side?"

Katniss nodded like she was thinking it over, before she raised her hand to her head. "

"Sorry, Primrose is standing there!"

Peeta looked down. "Oh… that makes sense."

Katniss nodded. "Yeah… I'm sorry."

Peter shrugged up. "Another time?"

Katniss pointed at him, nodding while walking away. "Yes! Another time!"

"We might even be reaped together!" He called happily.

Katniss smiled weakly. "Yeah… maybe! Well, bye!"

She turned and ran, hoping that even if she was picked, she was not going off with Peeta 'Pita' Bread.

Katniss slid down a small bank, before running towards a tree, her eyes focused on the young deer.

She was frazzled. That encounter with Peeta had been close. Too close.

She decided to picture Peeta's face on the deer as she drew her bow.

Suddenly a rock came out of nowhere, startling the deer.

Katniss let off a desperate arrow, but it missed, hitting a tree.

She looked around to see Gale walking down to meet her.

"Gale, you fucking twat! That was my kill!"

Gale just smiled happily. "What were you going to do with a 200 pound deer?"

"Eat it," she responded.

Gale waved a hand. "You suck with a bow anyway. You wouldn't have hit it! I saved you the embarrassment."

Katniss looked at him furiously as he came up to her.

"**It's the 'reaping' today," Katniss reminded him as they sat on a little hill, looking at the surrounding landscape.**

Gale looked surprised. "Seriously? I forgot."

"How could you forget?" Katniss demanded.

Gale shrugged. "Soz, I just did. I'm never going to be picked."

Katniss pretended to agree. "Oh yeah, why not?"

Gale winked at her. "I made a deal with the guy… we understand each other."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Forget it… I wish we could just get away."

Gale nodded. "Yeah… I think I have a plan."

Katniss looked at him sceptically. Gale's plans were never very good, and he came up with one every couple of weeks.

He saw her face. "No, really, this is not like the last one!"

Katniss snorted. "Oh yeah? The one where we sacrificed Peeta, and hid in the body disposal unit? I mean, that one was gold."

Gale shook his head. "No, look, this time we just run! I watched Bear Grylls, and it looks easy."

Katniss shook her head. "We wouldn't make it 5 miles."

"But… like, we took 6 miles to get here?"

She decided to ignore that. "Shut up, Gale."

But Gale didn't want to shut up. "Okay, what if everyone stopped watching?"

Katniss shook her head. "Not going to happen."

Gale shrugged. "_It might!"_

"So, you're going to stop watching?"

Gale looked down sheepishly. "Well, I meant others do it. I don't want to stop watching."

Katniss sighed. "Well, odds are you'll be picked."

Gale laughed. "Nope! Me and the lads have a deal!"

"**Gale Hawthorne!"**

Gale looked shocked as his name was called out.

"But… we had a deal," he tried to state.

He walked right up the stage to stand next to that lady who reads stuff out and likes mahogany tables.

That lady smiled, said a bit about how brave Gale was ("How the hell was I picked?") before making her way over to the little box of girls names.

"I hope you get picked," Primrose informed Katniss.

Katniss laughed. "Oh, always the joker!"

"I wasn't joking!" She tried to tell her.

The white lady picked out a name, and made a show, before reading it out.

"Primrose Everdeen."

Primrose looked shocked.

"Go on then," Katniss nudged her forward. "Bye."

Primrose looked at her. "But I don't want to go!"

Katniss nodded. "Oh! Okay then, let's just let someone take you place!"

"Primrose Everdeen," the white lady shouted out. "Come on!"

Primrose looked at Katniss. "Please."

"PRIMROSE EVERDEEN! GET UP HERE!"

Gale looked at the lady like she was mad, but he too was looking for Primrose.

The girls around Katniss were leaning in.

"What do we do?" One of them asked.

Katniss looked at them. "We carry her out."

"Tale my place!" Primrose begged.

"That's an idea!" One girl agreed.

Katniss looked around. "What? No, no way. Why don't one of you do it?"

But they were all shouting, chanting for her to 'do it'.

"Fine!" Katniss shouted. "But Gale and I had better get busy in the forest, because that's going to be the only highlight of my shitty life!"

She stormed up to the stage.

"I volunteer."

The white lady blinked. "Really?" She leant in. "You know you'll die?"

"Wait, I _might _die."

The white lady started laughing, pointing at Gale. "Yeah, right."

Gale looked at Katniss. "Score! We get to be in it together!"

Katniss just felt a bit sick.

"I volunteer!" A voice rang out.

Everyone looked to see Peeta Mallark walking forward, determination on his face.

"But," Katniss started, knowing full well what would happen if she didn't stop this. "Gale wants to take part! Right, Gale?"

He looked at her like she was mad. "Are you kidding me? I don't think so!" He leaped off the stage to shake Peeta's hand, before running off, shouting about how he was free.

Peeta made his way up, looking white, like he didn't realise why he'd just done what he did.

The white lady came up. "Hello! What a brave bunch you all are! You both volunteered!" She looked at Peeta keenly. "Am I right in thinking your Peeta Mallark?"

"Peter," he corrected her.

"I like Peeta better… don't you?"

"Considering I just corrected you, I don't think so-"

"Anyway, you have your champions!"

Everyone did that little Hand gesture.

"What the hell is that?" Peter asked.

Katniss shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they're volunteering!" he said perkily.

Peeta shrugged. "I should have read the book…," he muttered.

Katniss didn't know about that, but she did know that Peeta's stalking had hit a new level. It was willing to die just to get close to her, and she didn't know what to think about that.

**Please review so I know if I should bother continuing. It would make my day if you guys reviewed and enjoyed it.**


	2. Got Any Tips?

**It's a shame that this Fan Fiction story doesn't have more people reading, or reviewing, but I really did this story for fun. It's not commercial like 'The Perseus Attraction'. Still, please review (because no-one else will!), and I hope you enjoy me rattling on with this.**

**Someone said I got spelling wrong, but I think that might be due to the English differences in it. Of course it might be pure spelling, like spelling 'Speling' like that, but I think it's 'realize to realise'. Sorry, just a footnote.**

**Please give it a chance and review if you have any suggestions. Hell, just review anyway! Oh, and go to my profile to take part in the Poll! Choose your favourite character!**

**Gale came through the door happily.**

"How are you doing?!" was the first thing he asked.

Katniss shrugged. "Oh, okay, you know. Just thinking about… why you abandoned me to Peeta Stalker!"

She threw him against the wall, launching into an angry tirade on how he never helped her etc.

She brushed her off. "Take a chill pill Kat. Soz if I didn't want to go in and kill you."

"That's a lie, and you know it."

Gale shrugged. "Maybe a little. Anyways! It's cool, you'll be fine."

Katniss' face fell. "I don't think so. You left me with Peeta Stalker!"

"I think it's Peter," Gale corrected.

"I don't give a damn what his name is, you were supposed to stick near me."

Gale shrugged again. "It's cool, I'll just watch you on TV and get jealous as you find love with someone."

"Damn you Gale," Katniss threw her hand down. "I wanted to make out in the forest."

Gale blinked. "Eh? You did? But wait, that's-"

The guards came through and started dragging Gale out.

He looked at them. "Wait, it's cool, we were just, no," he started to struggle. "No, guys, she's hot, she wants me, no, get off, I want to go in! I want to take part-"

The door was slammed shut, and Katniss looked through the window to see Peter looking away hastily.

Great…

The door opened again, and a guy she recognised as Peeta's dad came through, with cookies.

Katniss looked up. "Who are you?"

He smiled, breathing heavily. "I'm the cookie guy, I was in the book, but they cut me out in the film."

He bustled up to her, shoving the cookies near her face.

She looked down on them. "No, it's okay, but thanks."

He nodded. "It's a times like these that those we care for most are the ones who suffer the worse, and it's the sins of the past that give us the strength to continue, knowing that one day we may be free."

Katniss looked confused. "Err, yeah, why are you here?"

"Alas, I'm here be-"

"No, really, stop speaking."

The cookie guy looked around. "Look kid, I need lines. I was cut from the film and I don't even have a wiki page on the 'The Hunger Games Wiki'. I need to get in all the media I can get."

"Shouldn't you be with your son; Peeta?"

He nodded. "Yeah, probably, but he doesn't have a viewpoint, so fuck that am I going to screw my only chance of getting in the story because I decided to be a good father."

Katniss nodded. "Okay , Mr Mallark, you need to get out of here."

"No, listen, maybe I could join you! I could be the second character! I could sacrifice myself for you, I could be-"

The guards came through and started dragging him out, but unlike Gale, he didn't struggle, he merely looked resigned, as if his chance at being a major character was gone.

Katniss' family didn't visit. She didn't think they could be bothered. Ungrateful bastards.

Before long she was herded out, before being dragged along a corridor, out into the open air, before meeting up with Peeta again, on a train platform.

Peter looked at the train. "So… we're on our way."

"Why'd you volunteer?" Katniss asked instantly.

Peeta looked shifty. "Err, for the pride of my district."

"Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected.

"Yeah, Peter, we live in a coal district that doesn't shovel coal. What's to be proud of?"

Peter ignored her and followed the white lady aboard the train.

"It's going to be so fun! You all might, no, will die, but at least you'll get to pretend you're important for a little while, and live like little celebrities before more able humans finish you off!"

Peeta nodded along with her, before they made their way into the main carriage, which was really nice, with tables, food and drinks, but Katniss kept her eyes on Peter in case he let something slip.

They sat down, looking around.

"Yes, it's so nice, with lovely beds and drinks, and food that you can't eat because you're so nervous and are fearing for your life-"

"Can you just shut the fuck up and stop being so goddamn happy for twelve seconds!" Katniss demanded. "I'm, nervous enough as it is without Mrs Makeup over here, telling me how I can enjoy my death."

The white lady looked at Peeta, shocked.

He shrugged. "It's kinda true."

She swept off, muttering something about getting Woody.

Katniss leant across to Peeta. "Why did you volunteer, Peeta!?"

"Peter," he corrected. "I just did."

She got closer, grabbing his shirt. "Tell me!"

He covered his eyes. "I'm camouflaged! You can't see me!"

Katniss almost growled but she settled for messing his hair up.

Peter looked shocked, just moving with the train, before finally getting words out.

"You touched my hair? After I gelled it?"

Katniss nodded. "Yeah, and I'll do-"

Suddenly the door opened and a paunchy guy walked through, with long hair, two strands falling in his eyes. He was also carrying Red Bull.

"What's wrong here?" He asked, drinking his Red Bull.

Peter immediately pointed at Katniss. "Katniss touched my hair and ruined it."

The guy pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

He looked at Katniss seriously. "I'm okay with fights or swearing… or, or, I don't know, sex in the cabin, but," he pointed at Katniss. "How would you like it if I ruined your hair?"

The guy pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

Katniss blanched. "I'm in the company of losers! Two hair freaks," The guy pushed his strands back, while Peter tried to use his tears to get his hair back in shape.

The guy sat down opposite them. "Look sweetheart, I know for a fact, that you're not going to get a lot of sponsors by being a bitch. Once you get there, they'll all have perfect hair. Take Cato; how'd he get his hair to stay like it does-"

"Who's Cato?" Peter asked.

"And look at that Glimmer kid. Her hair is never greasy." He seemed to remember something. "Then again, she never really lived long, so… but you get me?" he pointed his can at Katniss.

"Fine," he said. "You're the expert."

The guy pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

He nodded. "Woody Haymitch."

Peeta cocked an eyebrow. "Woody?"

Woody looked at him. "Got a problem with my name?"

"No, I thought it was Abert-"

"Yours?" Woody asked, pointing at Katniss.

"Katniss."

"What about you Mr Hair."

Peter looked miffed. "Peter."

"Okay Peeta-"

"No, Peter."

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

"Okay, _Peeta-"_

"No, Peter!"

"Peta… er, Pe- oh what's the fucking difference?"

"Nothing, I guess," Peeta replied.

Woody nodded. "Good… so, what do we do?"

Peter looked confused. "Erm, don't you help us to survive? Like give us tips?"

Woody nodded. "Yes, yeah, I have to do that."

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

He drunk some of his Red Bull.

Peter stood up. "I think you've had enough." He tried to take it from him, but Woody held onto it.

"No, just fuck off!"

Peeta and Woody struggled with the can. But Woody gave a tug, spilling it all over the table.

They both looked down at it.

Woody went pale. "Well, I'll be going."

He stood up and ran from the room, Peter running after him.

Katniss tried to get up too and run, but not before the white lady seized her, and have her a very bog lecture on tables.

"Do you know what wood that was?"

"No."

"It was mahogany. Do you know how to get Red Bull out of that wood?"

"No."

"You can't. Do you know who you are?"

"No."

"Do you know you're name?"

"No."

And etc.

The train trip went relatively well after that.

Katniss woke up on the second day, dressed and trudged into the dining area of the carriage, where Peeta was in discussion with Woody.

Or… she supposed they were.

When she got in, she heard 'Starlight' by Muse playing in the corner.

The two guys were nodding to it, to the beat, breakfast forgotten.

"Morning," Katniss started.

"Ssshhh!" They both hissed.

Katniss made a face before sitting down.

They ignored her, so Katniss decided to start the conversation up.

"So…," she looked at Woody. "Gonna help us through this? Got any tips?"

Woody ignored her.

Katniss frowned. "Are we going to act our age?"

They ignored her, until the song finally came to a stop.

Suddenly, the two guys came right back into action.

Peter leaned forward. "So? Do we build a fire?"

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

"If you like."

Peter coughed. "Okay, how do we get sponsors? Do we talk to them, or…?"

"If you like," Woody replied, drinking his Red Bull.

Peter looked at the can. "Do you think you should be getting hyper this early?"

"Red Bull gives you wings!" Woody insisted.

"Yeah, I know that, but you need to help us."

"Oh, go shovel some coal, 12."

"Help us!" Peeta shouted.

Woody ignored him, before standing up and walking off.

Katniss shrugged. "Sucks. Looks like we have to have our own backs."

Peter shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

He got up and walked off, and Katniss knew, right then, that Woody had just picked himself a stalker.

**10.00am: **Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

He drunk some Red Bull, twitching as the drive was sent through his skull.

Peter sat down suddenly.

"So, what tips can you give us?"

Woody rolled his eyes, before pointing out of the window. "Jump out of the train."

Peeta looked lost. "What? Now?"

Woody stood up and walked off.

**11.54am: **Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

He flicked the magazine, looking for more pages of kids dying horrible deaths.

Peter pulled up a chair. "Hey, Woody, does that magazine contain any tips?"

Woody sighed, before trying to ignore him.

**1.34pm: **Woody ate his broth, looking at Peeta on the other end of the table. He was just… staring at him.

Woody cleared his throat. "So? You volunteered?"

"Yup," Peter said happily.

"Peeta, right?"

"Peter," Peter corrected.

"So, why?"

"Tips? Got any?"

Woody gave up.

**2.34pm: **Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

Effie, the white lady, mixed her coffee up, looking at Woody.

"What's up?"

Woody drunk his Red Bull. "Nothing. Peeta won't leave me alone."

**6.23pm: **Woody flinched as Peeta opened his mouth.

"Tips?"

**7.49pm: **Woody was trying to watch the Disney movie. He hated it.

He pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

Peeta sat next to him.

"Argh! Peeta!" he recoiled in shock.

"Peter," Peeta corrected. "So, got any tips?" He saw the film. "You can tell me during this boring bit!"

**9.42pm: **Woody didn't even bother to brush the strands out of his face (which would have been a waste of time), his hand shaking as his toothbrush soaked under the water.

"Keep it together, Woody," he told himself. "He's not here now."

He looked up at the mirror to see Peeta reflected.

We whipped his knife out of sleeve and spun around, throwing Peter against the sink, and putting the knife to his throat.

"Leave me alone!"

Peeta smiled. "Tips?"

**12.11pm: **Woody woke up, looking around like he was back in the arena again.

Peeta was playing the guitar in the corner.

"_So just listen to the tips I give!"_

"HEY!" Effie and Katniss shouted.

"_The arena may vary, but these mentors, will always carry us safe to survival!"_

"Is that, is that 'Little Talks' Woody asked, terrified.

They didn't answer.

**3.05am: **Woody was sleeping in the air vents.

He woke up to a banging. He looked up, afraid.

"Who's there?" He croaked.

Peeta came down the vent. "Hey Woody! Just wanted to see if you had any tips?!"

**12.33pm: **Woody ran into the toilet, figuring Peter couldn't get him in here.

He sat down, finished, and went for the toilet roll.

"I don't fucking believe it…," he muttered.

_Tips, _was written on the paper.

**3.00pm: **Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, before making his way up to Katniss, who was reading.

"How the fuck do you deal with him?" Woody demanded.

Katniss looked up, before saying coolly, "You mean Peter?"

Woody nodded.

Katniss shrugged. "Well, I'm the one stuck with him as I head off to my death, so I'm not really the best person to ask."

Woody looked around to see Peeta staring at them.

**5.00pm: **Woody was watching Peeta stare at him with Effie.

"All he does is… stare."

**6.44pm: **Woody walked along a corridor. Peter was following him, but he didn't know where.

He looked at a doorway to see Peeta framed in it.

He ran away, making his way to a window, breathing deeply.

"Argh!" Woody recoiled, because Peeta was on the other side.

"Tips," he heard through the glass.

Woody ran away. It was possible, what this kid was doing, just not possible. He saw Peter in a doorway, but he ran past, dobling back as Peeta appeared in front of him.

His breathing started to get ragged, he ran back to the dining cart.

"Katniss?" He choked, looking around.

A figure moved, getting to it's feet, before turning to look at him.

Woody ran from Peter, right into someone's arms.

"Oh, Effie, thank God-"

"Whoa there," a male voice said, "got any tips?"

Woody drew his knife warding Peter off, before legging it down the train, Peter in all of the windows.

A Peeta appeared out of a doorway, and he hacked at it with his knife, but it was a fake.

He screamed, getting to a locked door, scrabbling at it, trying to get it open.

He jerked around at the sound of footsteps as they approached.

"What do you want?" Woody moaned, dropping his knife.

Peeta smiled. "Tips!"

**Okay, hope you enjoyed that! Please, please review as I'm not paid, and have a go at the poll!**

**Review, please, just below. A quick 'Lol' is all I want!**


	3. Fire, Piss And 'Dr' Thresh

**Thanks for more views guys! It's great to see this thing is taking off! Please, please keep reviewing, and continue to get this story up and running! If you like this story, please, just write ONE word. That's all I want! Thanks, and please continue to vote in the poll!**

**Woody sat down with Peter and Katniss, drinking some Red Bull as he did.**

"Okay, look, I need to tell you something."

Katniss nodded. "Yes?"

Woody took a deep breath. "I need to admit something. Do you guys remember the 50th Hunger Games?"

Peeta shook his head. "No, we weren't alive… we didn't see them."

Woody took at deep breath. "That's what I thought."

"What?" Katniss pressed.

Woody took out a DVD and handed it to them. "Just watch it."

He pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, before walking off.

Peter dove for the DVD player. He tried to push the DVD into the slot.

"Peeta-"

"Peter!"

"Whatever! You dick, look, you're trying to put it into the air vent."

Peter looked up, realising his mistake. "I'm sorry if I'm a bit excited!"

Katniss grabbed him, before pulling him away.

"Arghh, move… you… fat… fuck!"

Peeta was finally pulled aside, and Katniss took the DVD, putting it in, and switching the TV on.

She sat on the sofa as Peter turned up the volume.

They were watching a fuzzy screen with 24 tributes standing in a city; the start of the games, the Bloodbath.

They recognised Woody, a twitchy teen, with a mullet.

"Nice hair…," Peter muttered.

Katniss grinned.

The horn went and the tributes ran towards the weapons.

Woody was brushing his mullet back and hadn't heard the horn go on. He looked up, shocked, as everyone ran past him.

"_Shit," _they heard him mutter.

He started sprinting, trying to keep his mullet down and got hit by a tribute.

Woody went out cold on the ground.

5 minutes later, after everyone was gone, Woody opened his eyes, sitting up, and looking around.

"_Jesus I need a piss," _with that he started walking away from the weapons and towards a building.

Then they heard the commentary; _"Oh, and the gamemakers are releasing the flood!"_

Peter looked at Katniss. "Wait, I remember this one… this was the boring-"

Katniss hushed him, watching Woody walk towards a building, around a corner, before stopping, adjusting and starting to relive himself against the building.

"_That's magical," _Woody moaned happily.

Then the flood happened. In an attempt to spice the games up, a wall of water came and rolled over the arena. Tributes were caught and killed, all 23 of them, smashed and crushed and the torrent of water went rushing past Woody, protected by his spot behind the building wall.

Woody looked at the water steaming past on both sides of his cover, his piss forgotten.

"_The fuck." _He nervously styled his mullet.

The presenter's voice came up as the cannons sounded.

"_Errr, it seems the tsunami killed all of the tributes… all of them. Only… only the guy from District 12 is still alive… wait, is he pissing himself."_

Woody looked around. _"Did I win?"_

The video stopped, showing static.

Katniss frowned. "He didn't win! He got lucky!"

Peeta didn't seem able to grasp it. "Okay, he went behind a building… and he avoided the water and he _won_ for that?"

"Yes I did," a voice spoke.

They both looked around; Woody was standing there.

He pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

"Yes, now you see why I don't have any 'tips'," Woody said, his jaw working. He looked at their faces. "Don't think I'm proud of it… I'm not." His voice started to rise. "I'm not a winner, I'm nothing! _You saw me! I was taken out in the first minute! _NOW YOU SEE! I DON'T HAVE TIPS! I DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING WIN!"

Peter stood up. "We assumed-"

Woody grinned sardonically. "Oh they all assume. Yes, they do. My girlfriend left me out of embarrassment; I mean, who'd want to be seen with 'District Piss' as I was soon named. No victory for Haymitch! No _win! _The only medal I got was my life." He looked pained. "How can I help you?"

Katniss moved forward. "It wasn't your fault. I," she looked at Peeta, "for one, am glad you're our mentor."

Woody sighed. "I guess I could try to help you. I didn't have a mentor… no-ones survived before me… but I'll try to help you."

**They all sat at the dinner table. **

They were already planning they're strategy.

"Should we make a fire?" Peeta asked.

"Yes, Peeta-" Woody started.

"Peter," he corrected.

"Sorry Peter."

"Should we make a fire?"

"Sure, do that," Woody agreed.

Katniss frowned. "What about being seen?"

Woody looked back at Peter. "Don't do that."

"How about getting a bow in the bloodbath?" Katniss asked.

Woody nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Peeta shook his head. "You want to fight the Careers?"

Woody looked at Katniss. "Bad idea, sweetheart."

"What about sleeping on the ground?" Peeta asked.

"Sounds safe," Woody agreed.

"And get slaughtered while you sleep," Katniss added.

Woody looked at Peter. "Not sure that's wise."

Peter nodded. "Okay, so we just sit in a tree?"

Woody nodded. "That's what I'd do."

Katniss laughed. "And fall out?"

Woody looked at Peeta. "That's a bad idea."

Katniss cleared her throat. "How about getting a backpack?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"How?"

"I agree, it seems hard."

Peeta blinked. "We should keep our moral up by humming music."

"I like it!"

"And give away out position?"

"The girl's right, that's silly."

Katniss drummed her fingers. "Why don't we tackle a Career together?"

"Yeah! Take one down!"

"Without weapons?"

"What a bad idea."

Peter spread his hands. "The Careers will be slow right?"

Woody clicked his fingers. "He has it there!"

Katniss frowned. "Why would they be? Training all their lives?"

Woody shook his head. "Oh Peeta, what are we going to do with your bad ideas?"

"Peter," Peter corrected. "How about we try to get some water?"

Woody shook his head. "Bad idea."

They both looked at him. "Seriously," Katniss asked in disbelief. "You have an opinion?"

Peeta leant in, "Why? Is it poisoned? Do they monitor water distribution?"

Woody nodded wisely. "Water makes you piss."

They sat and digested this, before Peter broke the silence:

"Look! It's the Capitol!"

They all ran to the window, watching as they drove into the vast, modernised, almost futuristic city.

"Why do they all have blue hair?" Katniss asked, looking at Woody.

Woody frowned. "I don't know… maybe it's a new trend?"

They started passing people, slowing down: "Why are we slowing down?" Katniss asked.

"So we can wave and stuff," Peeta answered idly.

Woody looked at him, before doing the thumbs up, (which knocked Katniss to the floor as he brought his arm out) which he gave Katniss before she got her score in the movie; the outstretched arm, completely straight thumbs up.

He hit Katniss as he stretched his arm, hitting her to the floor.

"Nice one, Peter."

Katniss got up, rubbing her head. "Thanks Woody."

Both guys ignored her, so she decided to go to the window.

While the guys could see, Katniss was too short, so she tried to get on her tip toes, but she still couldn't see over.

"Damn… I wish I was the Jennifer Lawrence version. She'd be able to see over."

Peeta saw her, and completely mistook her point. "I liked my actor. What about you Woody?"

He looked around at them. "I'm named after the fucker. What do you think?"

Peeta looked down sheepishly. "Right." He got a chair for Katniss, who stepped on it with a thanks, smiling as Peter helped her up, and looked out.

She waved timidly, and the crowd roared.

Woody scoffed. "Watch this!" He brung his hand up, and acted as if he was pulling a train whistle.

"Choo choo!" The crowd shouted back.

Peter laughed. "Ha, ha, good one. Check this out!"

He raised his hand, waving, and the crowd started waving with him. Peter's hand closed to a fist, which he kept waving, his middle finger coming up.

"Booo!" The crowd started to throw their hands at him, walking away, disgusted.

Peter was laughing, but Woody was looking at him sourly.

"Peter, I just gave you the 'Woody Thumb' and you go and ruin it?"

Peeta's smile died. "Yeah…"

Effie came up. "Oooh! Here we are! You're all going to die, but at least you can get a nice house and meals before, and we should all be happy!"

"I vay," Peeta groaned, while Katniss ignored her, readying herself as the doors opened.

**The people whisked Katniss and Peeta off immediately, in hospital stretchers.**

"I feel like a patient," Peter remarked.

The guy whizzing him along chuckled. "Soon, you'll be dead."

Peeta looked at him. "Hello? I'm still here!"

Katniss' stretcher guy nodded too. "We just got some big guy come in; Thresh. Jesus, that's one vicious fucker. I'd hate to fight him."

Peter tried to smile. "Is he friendly?"

The guys snorted. "Tell that to Frank. He got his finger bitten off."

Peeta's eyes widened. "Great…"

They were carted into a room, before being thrown off and left there.

They were in a white room, with what looked like the rest of the tributes; a man in a suit made his way up.

"Hello, you will be taken through to your stylists-"

"What?" Katniss asked.

Peeta grinned. "Hell yeah! Time to get my makeup on!"

The man looked at him. "Males don't get make-up."

Peter blushed. "I knew that."

The man whisked off and District 12 got to see who'd be slaughtering them.

"Jesus Christ…," Peter muttered, as a huge black guy made his way over.

Peeta hid behind Katniss, but seeing as Peeta was a good 8 inches taller, it didn't work out too well.

"Fresh Meat…," Thresh grinned. He looked at Peter. "You smell of bread… bread is weak…"

Peter composed himself before making his way closer.

"Yeah, well, I worked as a-"

Thresh pushed him onto the floor, and Peeta landed on his bottom.

Katniss moved forward. "Fuck off, yeah?"

Thresh looked at her, and Katniss felt her courage dissolve.

"On the other hand, please hit me down too…" Katniss said weakly.

He walked off as a little girl came forward.

Katniss looked at Peeta. "Oh, here's someone nicer."

She leaned down as the girl got closer, skipping forward.

"Hey there!" Katniss welcomed. "What's your name?"

The girl stopped, biting her finger. "Rue."

Katniss looked at Peeta, who was grinning stupidly, still on his bottom on the floor.

"_I just want to eat you up!"_ Katniss cooed.

Rue smiled. "You're first!"

She skipped off as Katniss looked confused. "What's that mean?"

Peeta blanched. "I think…," he said delicately, "that she was going for you… first."

Katniss frowned. "What does that mean… oh," she realised.

Peeta nodded, but Katniss snorted. "Yeah, like I'm scared of a little girl."

Peter pointed at Rue who had a District 6 girl in a headlock.

"Say my name!" She commanded.

"Rue! It's Rue!" The girl screamed as Rue tightened her grip.

"No! Say it!"

"RUE! IT's RUE!"

Rue let her go before skipping off, leaving District 6 sobbing.

"My God…" Katniss whispered. She looked at Peeta. "Jeez, Peter, get to your feet."

He stood up quickly, brushing himself down.

They looked over at Thresh.

"You don't need this tooth, right, mate?" He asked a tribute.

The guy nodded. "I'd like to keep it."

Thresh shook his head. "Sorry, mate, we need to operate."

"What-"

Thresh grabbed him, and everyone backed off.

Katniss clearly heard Peeta wet his pants.

The man came back in, just glancing at Dr Thresh.

"Okay, are we all ready?"

A beautiful girl with blonde hair raised her hand.

The man pointed at her. "Yes?"

"There's only 23 of us? Where's the 24th?"

A girl from District 2 stepped forward.

"That's Cato. He should be coming down soon."

Thresh stepped forward, the guy he'd just performed 'surgery' on, writhing in pain behind him.

"Who's Cato? What's he like?"

The District 2 girl seemed to be holding back something.

"Big… and-" she stopped suddenly, looking down. Was that a tear on her cheek. "He's a good swordsman."

Thresh grunted, cracking his knuckles. "He's mine."

District 2 nodded. "You're welcome… good luck."

Katniss sidled up to Peter. "You get the feeling she's holding back something?"

Peeta was looking dead serious. "I don't know, and I don't think I want to find out."

**Main character Cato is coming in the next chapter, so that's what's happening next. Hope you liked this chapter and please tell me what you think some of the Tributes should be like! Tell me your ideas, or don't, but please review! It's everything to getting this story up and off so others can see, and it also makes me really happy. I'm not picky! A 'Lol' or something will do just fine! Vote on the Poll!**


	4. A Cato Of A Glimmer

**Thanks for the reviews! WE got to 40! Wow, that's fantastic! Please, please, review as it makes my story stand out, and more people read it! Anyway, thank you all for your continued support and I hope you like Cato!**

**(You need to listen to the chorus of 'Two Fingers' by Jake Bugg and picture a car moving through different locations before you read. Forget the start, it sound s weird, just get to the Chorus. It is the perfect song for Cato's entrance. It was just how I imagined it.)**

**Cato sat back in the car as they entered the city.**

"No… that doesn't work," Cato muttered, looking down at a piece of paper in his hand.

His Dad looked up at the mirror. "What's wrong, Champ?"

Cato looked up. "Nothing, I'm just struggling with this poem… no inspiration."

His Mum nodded idly.

Cato cleared his throat. "Are you _sure _they like poetry there? Because I'm not sure."

His mother frowned, smiling. "That's nonsense. Everyone there will be very friendly. And it's good for you to branch out… try to make some friends."

Cato looked out of the window. "But… aren't these the games that people get killed in?"

His Mum nodded. "Yes, but you're very good with that little sword of yours!"

Cato sighed. He didn't want to be here. He liked poetry, and long walks on the beach… not all of this fighting stuff. True; he was good with a sword, but he didn't want to _use_ it. His Mum had made him do that, to try and get him some more friends. It hadn't worked out well.

They pulled up to a huge building, driving into a parking space, before stopping gently.

His Dad turned around in his seat. "Okay, this is exciting, right?"

Cato raised his eyebrows in agreement, when he was thinking the exact opposite.

They all stepped out of the car, Cato climbing out of the small car with difficulty, before he grabbed his bag, containing most of his poetry books, and plenty of paper and pens.

His Dad smiled, before they began to walk into the building.

"Eyes like the sun…? No, that's corny," Cato muttered. He was proud to say he was skilled with poetry, but he could never nail poetry on humans; no, that was wrong, he couldn't nail it on_ girls_, or just the female gender in general. He hadn't found anything to grab his attention. It was all so… all the girls in District 2 were well fed, up themselves, fleshy bodies; nothing to write a poem on, well, not anything nice.

They walked into the reception, to be met by a man with slicked black hair, and a beard that looked like it was drawn on.

Cato watched him approached and introduce himself as the games master, but he missed his name.

Cato brushed his long hair away from his eyes, and hoped that they didn't cut it off. He knew they had stylists.

The guy came up to Cato, holding out his hand.

"You must be Cato, from District 2?"

Cato nodded, shaking his hand. "I didn't catch your name," Cato told him.

"Seneca Crane."

Cato nodded. "Err, nice."

He smiled before gesturing for them to follow him, and they walked off to his office on the top floor. They finally arrived, and Cato looked around at it, spotting some berries in the corner.

He sat down at the side, allowing his parents to take the front seats, while he pulled out some poetry and got to work on it.

His Mum looked at him, before pointing to the berries.

"I'm sure you're allowed some?"

Cato wasn't hungry, but he reckoned he'd just do it, to get them off his trail.

Crane stood up, smiling nervously. "No, I don't think so. That's Nightlock. Not… for eating," he finished.

Cato pulled his hand away.

His Dad frowned. "Why do you keep it up here then?"

Crane smiled, wringing his hands. "Well, just in case," he pretended to hang himself, laughing manically.

Cato wasn't sure he liked Rebecca Crane.

Cato's Dad shifted in his seat. "Right..."

Crane leant forward. "You wanted to talk to me?"

His mother beckoned him closer. "Yes… see, we're worried about Cato."

"How so?"

"Well, he's not a confident boy… he has difficulty talking to people. He's been bullied before-"

Crane held up a hand. "Let me stop you there. Here, at the Hunger Games, we do not tolerate bullying. No, anyone who bullies gets sent out of the games."

Cato's Mum nodded happily. "Oh, that's good to hear. We were worried."

Crane smiled. "No… they all die proudly. We are glad to say we have a very enjoyable environment in training, and the tributes always enjoy it greatly. We haven't had any complaints yet."

**Cato and his family walked out to the main building where the Tributes were gathered, ready for the stylists.**

"Cato," his Dad said, "Your mother and I are just going to go and get your lodging form, and we'll be back in a second. You just stay here."

They walked off and Cato was left standing outside the building.

He stretched on his tiptoes, looking around as far as he could, and as a result he didn't feel the small figure slam into him.

He felt the heat though.

"Ah!" He looked down to see coffee split all over his front, and he tried to wipe it off as the girl apologised profusely.

"It's okay, it's fine," Cato reassured her, wiping his front down.

He looked up to see a girl standing there, watching him tentatively.

Cato's felt his mouth go dry; his eyes were caught in her ones, emerald, and he couldn't tear them away, besides to look at her silky blond hair, or the defined shape of her face.

"I'm really sorry", she was saying. "I was trying to get back quickly, they're doing the stylists soon, you see, and I wasn't looking at you, and… I'm really sorry."

Cato shook his head. "It's fine. Really," he repeated, looking at her disbelieving face.

She bit her lip. "Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous; there's a new tribute coming from District 2. Even Thresh is on edge… he's supposed to be vicious."

Cato wasn't sure what to do with that and took him a couple of seconds to realise he was the District 2 monster.

"That's me, Cato," he told her.

She frowned. "You're Cato?" She looked him up and down, a smile building. "They said you were big, but they didn't say you were good looking too."

Cato didn't what to do with that either, so he said;

"What's your name? Are you a tribute too?"

She nodded. "District 1, I'm Glimmer."

Cato blinked. "Like a nail product?"

Her face hardened. "Yeah, just like a Roman Warrior, _Cato."_

She made to walk past, but Cato blocked her.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It's just an unusual name."

She looked down. "Yeah… I don't really like it."

"Well, that's stupid. You should be happy because you're unique. I'm not sure the author even gave me a second name, so…"

Glimmer grinned. "Don't be too charming, or you'll make me think twice about killing you."

Cato was again not sure what to with this.

"I'll see you in training Cato," Glimmer smiled.

She waked past, her hair catching the light and turning gold.

Cato didn't even register his parents coming back.

He'd found his inspiration.

**He walked into the room where the rest of the tributes were talking, or, in some peoples cases, getting beaten up.**

They all stopped as Cato walked in, conversations stoppig abruptly, as they all turned to look at him.

A huge black guy, about Cato's height, came up to him.

"You District 2?"

Cato nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

Thresh sucked his teeth. "What do you like to do?"

Cato smiled. This was exactly what Mum had said it'd be like! Friends!

He smiled shyly. "Well, I like Poetry-"

Suddenly Glimmer was at his side, holding his arm. "He likes fighting and breaking bones, right Cato?"

She looked at him innocently, as if daring him to say otherwise.

"Yeah," he lied, uncertainly.

The rest of the tributes backed off, fear flitting across their features.

Glimmer smiled at them, before dragging Cato to the corner.

"_I like poetry?" _she asked weakly.

Cato nodded. "Yeah! And long walks-"

"-On the beach," she finished. Cato nodded.

Glimmer shook her head. "Not here you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Thresh is going to use you as his human shield if you keep going on with this!"

Cato stood up straighter, towering over her. "I'm proud of myself."

Glimmer looked pained. "Cato, you'll be killed."

He scowled. "A bit sooner than later, right?"

She looked at him seriously. "No, that's not funny."

Cato turned away, but Glimmer struggled with herself, before reaching out and grabbing his arm.

"Yes?" He turned.

Glimmer smiled. "Just… get your hair cut. It's a bit long."

Cato nodded, before drifting off to some losers from District 12, but they ran away as he got close, the guy trying to hide behind the girl.

"Fuck off Peeta!"

"It's Peter!" The guy shouted back!

Cato shrugged, figuring it was going to be like this if he was supposed to be a savage.

Thresh was watching him, and he scared Cato. Soon, he'd be fighting that! And he didn't favour his chances.

A man came out of a door. "Off to your stylists!"

Everyone started trickling out, Cato following behind them. He saw Glimmer a she gave him a worried smile that made him feel a little better.

He ended up next to a girl, with dark hair.

"You District 2?" She asked roughly.

Cato nodded. "How are you?" Maybe they had stuff in common!

She grinned. "I'm looking forward to later! I get to kill people! Bones and blood!" She laughed like a maniac. "I'm going after the baker first!" She pointed at the Peter guy.

"Help," Cato whispered.

**Katniss was separated from Peeta (finally) and taken into a side room where she was met with a guy.**

He walked towards her, holding his hands up in disgust.

Katniss made to talk, but he overrode her.

"Look, darling, I don't know whether you're going to survive, or not, but I'm going to, like, help you get sponsors."

Katniss cleared her throat. "Are you here to make me look pretty?"

The guy shook his head. "I don't think it's possible to do that, but I'm here to make you look Fab-Bu-Lus!"

"What's your name?"

"Cinna, I think. I might, like, be wrong."

"How could you get your own name wrong?"

"Are you, like, going to ask questions all the time?"

Katniss shook her head. "I guess not." She started. "Wait, what about Peeta? Who's helping him?"

Cinna waved a hand. "I don't know girlfriend, but my goal is to look after you, and only you."

Katniss didn't like the way he said that.

**After they were done, they were ready to be paraded about.**

Peeta ran up to Katniss.

"Hey, Katniss! I look good, right?"

Katniss was looking at Cato, who, even if he was supposed to be a killer, was looking quite good with his hair cut.

"Hmm?" Katniss said, turning back to Peter.

Peeta was looking miffed. "I said… do you think I look good?"

Katniss thought he looked a bit stupid in leather.

"You look really good!"

**Cato shuffled nervously next to his psycho of a partner.**

"I can't wait to kill the baker! He's mine, stupid bastard!" She laughed and Cato laughed with her, though he was freaking out.

Also his hair had been cut, when he'd told them not to; Stupid Sinha.

He watched as Glimmer fought her way through he crowd to get to him, looking very conspicuous in pink feathers.

Cato tried to stifle his laughter as she came up to him.

She stopped and held out her arms. "You can laugh, as long as I get to laugh at you."

"No, it's just you look so stupid. Where did you get the feathers from?"

Glimmer scowled. "I look like an idiot."

Cato looked down at his own 'Gay Roman' garb. "I have to wear this gay helmet."

Glimmer pointed at her head. "I'm wearing feathers! I think I'm worse."

He had to agree. "Cinna told me this looked tough," Cato confined.

Glimmer looked surprised. "I had Cinna too, but he said he was only looking out for me."

"Oh-"

"You know what this means?"

Cato shook his head. "He likes clothes?"

"Well, that's obvious. No, he's making this part into a fashion show."

Cato shook his head. "That's stupid."

"_And now, here's some girl from District 7, who's wearing some clothes. Styled by Sinha, who is available for individual styling in the fifth street of the ninth quadret! Yeah! Look at her go!"_

Glimmer looked back at Cato.

"Okay," Cato admitted. "Fine. you're right."

Glimmer put her hands on her hips, looking around. "Oh well, my District's extravagant goods. I might excel at this."

Cato shuffled. "Mine's masonry."

Glimmer tilted her head. "I'm sorry."

Cato nodded.

Glimmer was looking at him, confused now. "Then… why are you dressed up as a gay roman?"

"Beats me. Why are you dressed as a bird?"

Glimmer shrugged. "Beats me."

They tried to hold their composure for a bit, but they couldn't and ended up laughing.

Cato looked at Glimmer laughing; he did this. That was nice… the thought soured as he remembered: 'One survivor'.

A peace keeper came over. "Could you two stop messing around and think about how you're going to take the catwalk?"

Glimmer nodded as he walked off and out of hearing. "Not a chance, pal."

Cato sighed. "I wish you were in my District."

Glimmer nodded. "Yeah… we might even get that whole 'two victors from a District' thing. Instead… I'm stuck with some guy who says his name is Jack, and he looks gay when he smiles, which is all the time, so."

Cato shrugged. "Could be worse; I'm with… THAT!"

He pointed at Clove who was skinning her own finger.

"Oh," Glimmer said. "Is that, no, oh, shit, is she cutting her own finger!?"

Cato nodded. "Sadly so…"

Glimmer looked appalled, as if she'd never seen a human do that.

"Kill her together?" Cato asked.

Glimmer nodded. "Oh yeah…," she looked up at Cato. "Well, I might."

Cato nodded. He wasn't sure he'd be able to kill anyone in this game.

"You like poetry?" Glimmer asked.

Cato nodded, but before he could answer; tell her how he had written his own book, how he planned to be a poet when he grew up, he was taken away for the catwalk.

"You'll do great!" Glimmer shouted.

Cato wished he could believe her as he ended up next to the freak.

"**But, I look good?"**

"Yes," Katniss insisted. "Very cool."

"Better than Gale?"

Katniss snorted. "I don't think so. You can't touch that."

Peeta huffed. "Yeah, well my personal stylist, Sinha, gave me flames!"

Katniss frowned. "Me too… wait, why did he do that?"

Peter smiled "What? If you're trying to distract me from the catwalk, it won't work."

Katniss didn't answer, but kept her thoughts to herself.

**Glimmer pulled off a loose feather.**

She looked at Cato, standing there next to his little partner, who was screaming something.

Cato looked at her and smiled, and she had to hit herself mentally.

"_Only one comes out." _

**So… what did you think of Cato and Glimmer? Please tell me as I'd love to be able to improve, change, destroy, and basically make it better. Please review and tell me your thoughts! You can improve this story, or get an idea of your own in!**


	5. It's A Fashion Show!

**Those who keep reviewing are great, but I was disappointed that there are a load of people who read this, but they don't bother to review. It's sad; just I'm trying to write this for you guys and you can't be bothered to whack in a quick 'lol' or something. Anyway, on my other story, I started the 'Lol Campaign'. Basically, what you do is ALL you have to do it write a quick 'Lol' after you read, and nothing more! If all you guys who read it reviewed, it'd have over 100 reviews, and I can't tell you how amazing that would be. **

**Of course, thanks to those who constantly review, like Killer Pineapple and Glimto, Kirkia, BLG, firecewolf, Meepmeep, Ecila, Herpderp and I'm sure I missed some, but you see! Pineapple, I've seen your review, and I'll fix it up! **

**All of you (or most) seem to like Cato and Glimmer (thank God :D) so I'll keep that going! It really is fantastic people review, but of course, most of you who read won't be bothered, which is... upsetting. Oh, well.**

**Peeta and Katniss' names were called and they headed to the catwalk.**

"You are a model, you are a model," Peeta repeated under his breath.

Katniss snorted, before they made their way through the curtains and onto the stage.

Peeta started walking down the catwalk like he'd be born to do just that, flicking his hair and swivelling his hips.

Katniss, doing more of a dignified trudge, looked at him, and knew he was going to be so dead when he hit the arena. He had no chance, especially not against people like Thresh and Cato.

Peeta raised his hands to cheers, before doing a hybrid of the moon walk and some sort of jig.

He glided backwards to Katniss. "I call it 'The Peter Shuffle'."

"The Peeta Shuffle?-"

"The 'Peter' Shuffle," he corrected.

"Yeah," Katniss nodded. "Well, shuffle over there," she pointed over to a corner of the stage and Peter complied.

She rolled her eyes, as people looked at her and wondered if she was going to dance like the other guy.

Peeta made his way back over. "Kat, you're making us look bad. Dance."

"Not going to happen," she hissed.

Peeta smiled at the audience, flicking his feet out in a complicated manoeuvre.

Katniss looked down, impressed. "Wow, you can dance."

"That's not all I can do, babe," he said.

"What did you call me?" Katniss asked, her voice hardening.

Peeta looked at her. "What? Did you like it?"

Katniss smiled despite herself. "Oh, Peeta!"

"Peter," he corrected. Katniss' smile dropped. He'd ruined it.

"Strip off on 3," Peeta told her.

"What!? Wait, like, take our clothes off?"

"Come on, they'll love it!" He whispered. He looked at her. "You have the body of a Lynx, Katniss! You shouldn't hide it!

"No!"

"1-"

"Peeta, fuck off!"

"2-"

"I'd rather use the flames!"

"3!"

He ripped his leather shirt, exposing his chest.

The cheering stopped.

Katniss looked down at Peter's muscled chest quickly, before talking to him.

"Bad idea?"

**Cato and Glimmer looked at the screen, where the two tributes from District 12 were standing, the girl looking blank, the guy on his knees, having ripped off his shirt.**

"They don't expect me to do that, do they?" Cato asked quietly.

Glimmer looked at Cato's chest. "Erm, maybe?"

**Woody, who was eating a sandwich, dropped it in horror.**

He staggered over to the screen, taking it in his hands.

"No, No, No! Put it back on!" he said in a Gordon Irish accent (From 'Run Fatboy Run').

The rest of the mentors laughed their heads off.

Woody turned around. "He looks good though?"

Agreement spread.

Woody brushed his hair back, before hurrying off to the music station.

He stopped the guy as he was about to put a new track in.

"Put this in," he said, handing the guy Maroon 5's 'Moves Like Jagger'.

The guy looked at it. "Does it have the Christina Aguilera feat?"

"Of course," Woody muttered. "It's shit without it."

**Katniss took a deep breath.**

"Right… no sponsors for us."

Suddenly a whistling tune came on, and Peeta jerked back to life, jerking his head.

In one smooth move, he pushed his head to one side, rising to his feet, before breaking out, dancing with ease.

Katniss looked around at the crowd, who'd started cheering again.

Peeta danced for ages, with a skill that amazed Katniss. He even took her hands, spinning her, and making her feel like an elegant princess. Then the music stopped and she wasn't in the arms of Zac Efron anymore. Just Peter the Baker.

They finally wrapped up their display, and walked off.

Peter was grinning. "Good, huh?"

Katniss didn't answer. He'd caused enough bloody hassle, him and his stupid shirt move.

They stopped as Woody came through the crowd.

He looked at Peeta. "I buttered your ass up, and took it out of the oven."

Peeta nodded. "The song?"

"Mine."

Peeta nodded as Woody swept away, them following him to their penthouse, and Katniss, looking at Peeta, reckoned, just 'Peter' wasn't too bad.

**Glimmer came running back to Cato, a smile lighting her face.**

"Was I good?" She asked, referring to her catwalk performance.

Cato, sitting on a bench, having already been through his terrible shuffle up on stage with a crazy Clove who wanted to kill the audience, nodded, looking up from his poem.

"You were fantastic," he told her.

Her smile lit up Cato, filling him with warmth.

"Who would have thought," he muttered, looking down at his poem. "You made feathers work."

She sat down, grinning. "I thought you looked good," she told him.

"Thanks."

"For a gay roman."

Cato nodded. "Ah! Knew they'd be a catch.

Glimmer started playing with his hair, pushing it up into a more spiked front.

"Much better," she told him.

Cato looked at her. "What'd you do?"

She shrugged, lips pressed together. "Made you look better," she stated simply.

Cato stood up. "Thanks, but that's not going to help in the arena."

She stood too, and they started walking towards the penthouse.

"So…," he asked. "What skills do you have? Besides styling hair?" He smiled.

"Don't tease," she said happily. "You haven't seen me with a-"

Cato didn't catch the last word. "A what?"

She looked at him. "A-"

Cato cleared his ear. "Sorry, I didn't catch the last bit."

Glimmer sighed. "Yeah… Collins never said what my skills were. Didn't think you'd be able to hear it. It'd be non-canon."

Cato nodded. "Let's say you're good with a bow."

"Let's not," she corrected. "I'm okay, but nothing special." She looked at him. "What about you?"

Cato shrugged. "I was always pretty good with a sword, but I don't like using it."

Glimmer looked at him sadly. "You do poetry, right? You mentioned it," she added as Cato blushed, pushing his poem into his pocket.

Cato looked ahead. "I don't 'do' it, I create it."

Glimmer held her hands up. "Sorry if I offended you, Hardy."

Cato shrugged. "It's fine."

"What are you writing now?"

Cato didn't answer. He was still in the middle of a poem about Glimmer, but he was finding it hard to capture the way her hair moved, the gleam of her eyes or the way she walked, gracefully, with power.

She looked at him, waiting for an answer.

They reached the doors, went through and into the lobby.

Glimmer looked at Cato, who was watching the elevator silently.

She cleared her throat, bringing Cato back.

"I'm on Floor One, so…"

Cato nodded. "I'll see you in training."

She nodded. "Maybe you can show me some of that sword skill?"

Cato nodded, his throat constricting as she said goodnight.

"I'm off to go drown these feathers," she said, before walking to the stairs.

Cato sighed. These games were worse than he thought. Sure, killing people was bad, but killing _friends. _Who was that monstrous?

Clove hit Cato on the shoulder. Speaking of monsters…

"Hey Monster!" She looked in the direction of Glimmer. "Ah… yeah, make friends with Glitter-"

"Glimmer," Cato corrected.

"And gut her while you sleep together."

Cato frowned. "What?"

Clove grinned. "You might as well tap that before you shove a sword up her-"

Cato didn't know where the anger came from, but before he knew it, he lifted Clove off the floor and slammed her against the wall.

She looked shocked, caught off guard, and Cato dropped her, rubbing his brow.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from," he muttered.

And he didn't. Hot, uncontrollable anger had spread through him quicker than Nightlock venom.

Clove brushed herself off. "I see why they call you 'The Monster'." She looked at him, as if studying him. "I'm thinking you're the only one who can take down Thresh."

Cato snorted, before making his way to the lift. A reputation was one thing, but pure combat against one of the deadliest tributes the Capitol had seen was another thing.

Clove came up. "Come on!"

Cato turned around. "Look, I'm not the deadly monster you all think I am!"

Clove frowned. "But Glimmer said-"

"Yeah, _said. _I write poetry! I like Romantic Comedies! I'm not violent!"

Clove's face turned into a mocking expression.

"Jesus, so my partner's a pussy?"

Cato felt her slam into him to get to the elevator, but he realised one thing. He was out; they'd all know. He was no danger, and as soon as Thresh knew that, he was dead.

**Katniss and Peeta changed, before making their way to the dinner table.**

Woody was there already, drinking a Red Bull and eating.

"Hey there, Maroon 5!"

Peter blushed, before dropping into a seat.

Effie made to speak. "I'm so happy-"

Katniss held up a finger. "_Don't!" _

Effie huffed, but fell silent.

Woody dunked his bread into some Red Bull, and chewed it slowly.

Katniss cleared her throat. "So?" She looked Woody. "How'd your stylists go, back when you were in the games?"

Woody shrugged. "Fine."

Peter snorted. "They let you keep that stupid mullet?"

"Shut it," Woody replied.

Katniss smiled. "That mullet wouldn't have got you any sponsors."

Woody scowled. "Yeah, well taking your shirt won't either."

Peeta became interested in his food.

Cinna came walking in, rubbing his hands.

"Portia had to, like, totally cancel, but we should be fine."

They all murmured in response, and Cinna sat down.

"So, I think that went, like, really well."

Katniss nodded and Peter looked at his soup.

Effie took the chance to speak. "I for one, am fantastically-"

"No! Bad Effie!" Peeta said.

She pouted, but stopped talking.

Woody burped, before speaking. "So, you two are going into training tomorrow." They nodded and he continued, "and it's going to be tough. But remember; show them all you have."

Cinna frowned. "But then, like, they'll know all about them? All their, like, skills?"

Woody looked blank, before chewing slowly. "Don't do that then."

Katniss sighed. "I wish we weren't against anything like Cato."

Woody laughed. "Yeah, well I heard that he's a poet."

They all looked at him.

"He's a sap," Woody elaborated, before putting a piece of meat in his mouth and chewing, grinning.

Peter leaned in. "You're sure?"

Woody nodded. "Oh yeah, dead sure. He might be gay too."

"Nothing wrong with that," Cinna stated.

Woody cleared his throat, before speaking again. "Anyways, he's hanging out with that District 1 chick, and by my balls, she's no threat."

Katniss looked down. "Well you've been wrong before."

"Eh?"

"Nothing."

Woody grinned again. "Anyways, my tip is to stay out of Thresh's way. Let the Careers deal with that fucker."

They all agreed with that.

"Two of the Careers suck, so how do we know the rest don't?" Katniss pointed out.

Woody looked up. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Katniss frowned. "Hello? Cato's a poet, and Glimmer's a beauty queen. I don't see the danger."

"So? What's your point?"

"I'm saying, how do we know Clove and Jack are evil too?"

"Who's Jack?" Woody asked.

"District 1's guy."

"Looks like a retard," he said dismissively, getting back to his food.

Peter jerked in. "Yeah, so how do we know they're any good."

Cinna sighed. "Clove's a freak. She told me she wanted to kill the 'Baker'. Who's he?"

Peeta paled. "I bake…"

Cinna ate, not realising. Then he stopped. "Wait…" he looked up. "She's coming for you? You're the Baker?"

Peter nodded miserably. "Yeah…"

Katniss looked around at him. "Sorry."

She patted his back as Peeta cried into her shoulder.

**Thanks to LizzieThe Awesome who reviews too! Tell me what you thought of it all! Haymitch still funny? Glimmer and Cato still getting you invested? **

**Please, take part in the 'Lol Campaign'. Just a second to write 'Lol' and it's done, and I'm not asking for more! Please, just be bothered to give me a small thank you if you enjoyed this! I always love to hear more about what you guys think, but if you don't want to, all I ask is for a quick 'Lol' in the box below. That's all. **


	6. The Darker Side Of Friendship

**Okay, thanks guys for reviewing. This chapter took a bit longer to knock up, but I read your reviews; you're all liking Glato, and I love writing it, so this chapters pretty much dominated by it! No worries, I have not forgotten Peeta and Katniss; they have loads of jokes coming up, but due to popular demand, Glimmer and Cato will be taking the centre stage for this! Please just take a second to review (you ONLY need to write 'lol') or add it as a follow or a favourite! Remember, the more reviews (to those who keep reading but don't bother) the quicker the chapters will come out! Oh, also, did you know there are ClovexCato stories. I didn't. Anyways, forget MY opinions, let's care about yours!**

**Onto a Glato chapter! (Girl Whos Name You Might Not Know: I know you're reviews, and I hope this chapter will address the Glimmer front!) **

**It was the first day in the training centre, and Cato, dressed in his snazzy tracksuit, grabbed his bag and made his way down.**

He brushed his hair up, before knocking on District 1's door.

The door opened to reveal a very tall, wiry teenager, who was definitely not Glimmer.

"Hey," Cato said, warily.

The guy, Jack who won't reveal his real name, leant forward.

"You're Cato, right?"

Cato nodded. "And?"

"Glimmer's mine, so back off, okay?"

Cato frowned. "No."

Jack sneered. "Why don't you go and write another poem?"

"I'd love to hear it," Glimmer appeared at Jack's side, dressed in her tight tracksuit. Cato tried not to look too much at her figure. Instead, he looked up at Jack.

Jack licked his lips. "You like, Cato?"

Glimmer nodded. "More than you."

Cato smiled, but Jack seemed to be struggling.

"You like _Cato? _You like unusual names."

Glimmer frowned, smiling. "I'm called 'Glimmer'."

Jack wiped his neck, sweating. "Right."

Glimmer whistled. "If that's all, I'll be going now."

Jack nodded and she started walking, Cato trailing behind her, leaving him behind.

"What a jerk," Cato muttered.

Glimmer shrugged. "Better a jerk than a Thresh. Hopefully, he'll be easy to take down."

They were back on the subject of killing, which Cato didn't like.

"Can't we just not kill?" He asked.

Glimmer started laughing, falling against Cato, who'd stopped short.

"That's funny! Just… not kill! Good one!"

Cato frowned. "I was serious," he smiled uncertainly.

She stopped, straightening up. "Sorry, of course you were."

Cato looked at Glimmer seriously. "We don't_ have_ to kill. But… sounds like you're looking forward to it."

She shrugged, looking mildly offended. "No, but we do have to; unless you want to be killed." She looked at Cato in the 'you want that to happen' way.

Cato conceded his point and they started walking again, Glimmer looking at him uncertainly, as if he needed looking after.

They made their way into the training room, a huge bunker like place under their rooms, with equipment: dummies, weapons etc. all around.

It was just them and Thresh, who was eating a dummy in the corner.

He turned on their footsteps, before grinning, and making his way over.

Glimmer pushed Cato back slightly, before reaching up and bringing him down to her level.

"What did you say last night?"

Cato was amazed at how she could guess this about him within a day of knowing him, but he was also very embarrassed.

"I… errr…. I told Clove I liked poetry."

Glimmer tensed. "What did I _tell _you?"

"Not to," Cato mumbled. "But I'm not going to just follow your lead. _I want to be me_."

Glimmer looked around at him. "I'm not trying to change you Cato, believe me. I _love _that you have a passion that isn't bloody, but _here _is not the place!"

"Look sharp," Cato muttered, as Thresh came over.

He smiled. "I heard, Cato, that you liked poetry."

Cato fixed his jaw. Glimmer looked at Thresh and shook her head slightly.

Cato took the hint. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Thresh moved closer, forgetting that Glimmer was getting crushed in between the two 6'0+ men.

"I know you're lying," Thresh stated.

Cato, with a rush of anger similar to the night before, grabbed Glimmer and pulled her out from between them.

"Yeah?" Cato said, moving closer. "Well, you're just as stupid as you are deaf."

Thresh looked down. "If that's how you want to play it."

He grabbed Cato and threw him against the wall.

Cato felt pain explode across his back, and he fell to his knees.

"This is the 'Monster'?" Thresh mocked.

Cato looked at Glimmer, who was standing there, watching through her fingers, frozen to the spot. Abandoning him.

Thresh lifted Cato off his knees, and punched in the stomach.

Cato let out a grunt of pain.

Thresh grinned. "What was that? Singing some poetry about me, huh?"

He drove his fist into Cato's stomach again. "Sing!"

He punched Cato again. "Sing, 'Monster'!"

Cato sunk down into Thresh's arms. His stomach felt like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer. No-one could punch with so much force.

Thresh lifted him again. "What do you have to say now?"

Cato took a deep breath. "Fuck off."

He lashed out with all his strength at Thresh with his leg, lifting the latter off the floor and throwing him across the floor.

Cato looked around at footsteps to see all the tributes filing in.

Thresh saw it too, clutching his stomach and looked at Cato murderously. "I will have you, Cato."

Cato didn't say anything, but merely watched as Thresh walked over to the weapons. He wasn't going to start another fight; he'd been lucky to avoid the Peace Keepers this time.

He looked around as the other tributes started muttering to themselves, before they busied themselves with the set activities the supervisors handed out.

Glimmer came up to Cato, helping him to make his way to a bench.

"Are you okay?"

Cato glared at her. "Thanks for helping me."

Glimmer blushed. "I'm sorry, but Thresh would tear me apart."

Cato nodded. "And if we hit the same situation in the arena? I mean, he'd tear you apart. Please, don't even try to save me."

Glimmer was completely red now. "I'm sorry."

Cato rubbed his stomach. "Yeah."

"Look, I… I didn't think. It was survival instincts coming into play."

Cato nodded again. "That's fine," he said shortly, before standing and trudging off.

**Peeta and Katniss walked to the knot tying class, which looked like it hadn't gotten anyone since the games were started.**

The guy came up, desperate. "Wanna learn how to tie a knot?"

Peter shook his head. "Nah, it's useless."

The guy grabbed his shirt. "Learn from me!"

Peeta tried to fight him off. "No! We're going this way!"

Katniss intervened. "Sure! We'll stay!"

They stayed for five minutes.

"That was lame," Peter muttered. "Nothing of use. Just how to tie a stupid knot."

Katniss agreed as they walked over to the camouflage station.

"Hey," Peter grinned. "I'm really good at this!"

Katniss didn't remind him he was shit, as a matter of fact.

A guy, (maybe District 5?) ran up, panting.

"Hey, did you guys hear! Jack's, you know, the District 1 guy, his real name is Marvel!"

Katniss blanched. "Really?"

The guy nodded. "Positive!"

Peter and Katniss started laughing, doubled over.

"We're calling him 'Captain' Marvel, like a superhero."

They laughed even harder as Marvel went walking past.

Peeta cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey! Captain Marvel! Find any supervillians yet?"

Marvel turned on him; this was obviously not the first taunt.

He walked up and threw Peter against the wall, levelling his spear at him.

"Think my name's funny?"

Peter looked at the spear. "Kinda, yeah," he choked out between laughter.

Marvel drew the spear back, but Peeta squeaked out:

"No harm in training!"

Marvel grinned. "Yeah, but when we hit the arena, you're going down."

"Yeah, well I don't dance," Peter replied, before flicking his feet, spinning around, and then opening his palms like an explosion in Marvel's face.

"POW!"

Marvel backed off, pointing his spear at him. "You're a weirdo, baker boy!"

Peter floor slid and Marvel ran off.

He turned back to the station, before starting to paint himself up.

Katniss just watched him in amazement.

"**Hey, poetry boy! Know how to swang that thang!"**

Cato shook his head at the bad rap, and continued to swing his sword at the dummy, pretending it had Thresh's face on, Clove's… Glimmer's…

He destroyed the dummy, ripping it through with the sword, before turning to the guy, sweating and breathing heavily.

"What?"

The guy looked a little scared, but he remembered that Cato was a wuss.

"What's wrong with you? A little scared? Fucking t, t, t, twwaaa-t. Ha, ha!"

Cato looked down, before dropping the sword and walking away to the bench.

The guy followed, still taunting you.

"What's wrong? Want your Mummy?"

Cato felt tears jerk at his eyes, before the Peacekeepers came up.

"You know the rules sonny, no bullying."

The guy looked at them. "What?"

They nodded. "Right, off you go," they grasped his arms.

"Wait, what are doing?"

"Those who bully get sent out of the games, and are never allowed to compete again. Back to your District."

The guy looked shocked. "But… wait, no." He started to struggle. "I want to compete! I WANT TO COMPETE!" He was dragged away, and everyone looked at him.

"Poor kid," that baker boy whispered to the girl. "To get kicked out."

The girl looked at him like he was mad, but that might be because he was covered in yellow paint on a forest background.

Cato clenched his fists, trying to stop the tears.

Someone shoved tissues in his hands.

He knew it was Glimmer, and he didn't like it. But he used them, anyway. She rubbed his back gently.

"Get it all out," she soothed.

He looked up. "You're ready to help me now… but not when it matters. I still don't trust you."

Glimmer locked her lips together, before nodding, and getting out: "Fair enough." She looked around, before leaning in closely. "But at least let me help you for the start of the games at least, even if you don't trust me when we go in."

Cato glared at her, but she relaxed and took a ring off her finger, that Cato hadn't even noticed was there, and held it up.

"Cato, I want to make an alliance."

Cato tore his eyes away from the ring, before smiling grimly. "You proposing? Why me?"

"You're the only one I trust."

"Or the only one you can take down."

Glimmer nodded, trying to keep her face expressionless. "Not exactly."

"No… just let me take the heat from Thresh. We both know he's after me."

Glimmer sighed. "We'll burn those bridges when we reach them." She held the ring up closer. "I'm better prepared than you think."

Cato scoffed. "What _can_ you do?"

She put the ring back on. "I saw you with the sword. You're very good."

"Against dummy's."

"Fight me then."

Cato smiled condescendingly. "So you can learn my style? To defeat me?"

"To work with you," Glimmer hissed. "I won't kill you Cato."

"Why? Answer that?"

"I'm… I've become fond of you. I can't say more."

Cato didn't ask for more. Why? Because he would have said the exact same thing. He wasn't going to kill Glimmer, even if it meant taking his own life.

"I won't take your life," Cato admitted. "But… then again, you might not have to kill me, and might not have to kill you. Thresh would be more than happy to do us in."

Glimmer looked at Thresh, who was 'practicing' with a couple of tributes… or throwing the around in new and varied ways.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both," Cato muttered.

"Pardon?" Glimmer asked.

"Robert Frost, 'The Road Not Taken'," he answered. "I'm just saying that we still have choices… choices not to kill."

Glimmer looked a little perplexed at the poetry, and Cato could tell right off she wasn't into it.

She looked back at Cato and brushed his cheek, startling him. He smiled, because he loved the smooth feel of her hand, the brush of her nails, the ring cold on his face.

"Dead with a goofy smile; Was there a worse way to go?" Glimmer smiled.

Cato frowned. "What?"

Glimmer held up the ring, turning the gemstone; a needle sprung out.

"Poisoned," she informed him.

Cato looked at it. "What, why, you-"he regained his composure. "You're going to use that?"

Glimmer grinned. "I'm not going to eat it, am I? Of course I'm using it! It's us or them."

Cato liked the fact he was included in the 'us', but he still didn't trust Glimmer not to run if it got too hot.

"That's cheating," Cato protested.

Glimmer shrugged. "Do I look like I care? Survival; anyway I can stay alive, I will."

Cato looked at it. "Like leaving me to my death if it will save you."

Glimmer's face set. "I said I was sorry."

Cato changed tact. "Why are you telling me?"

Glimmer stood. "Like I said: I trust you." She looked at the knives station. "Come on, let me show you my skills."

**Peeta and Katniss walked back from the cameo station, where the trainer had pronounced Katniss 'shit' and he had just laughed at Peter.**

They made their way over to the cafeteria area, where Peter went straight to one of the hatches.

"Hey! " He said perkily.

The Avox didn't reply.

Peter frowned. "I was talking to you!"

The Avox remained silent.

Peeta moved forward. "Listen fucker, I'm a big celeb now, and you'd better gush over me, or I'm going to fuck you up!"

Katniss took Peeta's arm. "Listen Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected.

"Fine. Look, they have their tongue cut out. They can't talk, okay?"

Peter looked down before saying sheepishly. "I didn't know."

Katniss moved forward, before saying briskly; "I'd like the most filling thing you have!"

They served her, and she walked off, leaving Peter.

"Hey, Katniss, wait!" He called. He turned back to the Avox.

"I wanna a Sloppy Joe!"

He shook their head.

"No?" Peeta guessed it was out of stock. "How about steak?"

Head shake.

"Come on, someone's going to sit next to Katniss, give me anyone's shit!"

The Avox looked confushed.

"Give me shit," Peeta repeated. "Anything."

The Avox cocked an eyebrow.

"Shut it, you stupid slave. I'm a celeb, and a successful model. I want shit!" He slammed his fist down.

The Avox ran off, and Peter waited.

Thresh came up, pushing through the queue.

"You can't take that-," one kid started, before he saw Thresh.

Thresh got to 'The Monster' and that girl from District 1, who was happily chatting about this ring she was wearing, and some sword they'd find in the arena. Peter frowned. The 'Monster' was sucking it up. Maybe he was gay.

Thresh got to Peter, just as Peeta got his meal. It was, as Peeta unwillingly asked for, shit, straight from the piss hole.

"Err, this isn't what I meant," Peeta began, but the Avox's look told him: _"You asked for it, mate, and I have a Thresh and 'The Monster' to feed, so screw off to another catwalk."_

Thresh grabbed Peter's tray. "That's mine," he hissed.

Peter blanched. Maybe Thresh hadn't smelt it.

"Sure," Peter replied weakly.

Thresh grinned, before shoving Peeta in the side and walking off to a table.

Peeta got a quick meal and ran back to Katniss, while 'The Monster' and the girl from District 1 got theirs.

"**Load up on carbs."**

Glimmer loaded Cato's plate up to bursting, before grabbing a sandwich and dragging him off to a table.

She sat down Cato and shoved an apple juice at him.

"You like this, right?"

Cato shook his head. "Orange? Yeah. Apple? Not really."

Glimmer held up the bottle, looking at it as if it had failed her. "No? Well, have this." She shoved her grapefruit one at him, and opened the apple juice.

She smiled. "Lucky for you, I love it." She drank as Cato compared their meals. His plate was filled with meat, pasta, a stew, some bread, load s of rolls, a fish, some chips, wood chips, and what looked like glue.

"Is this glue?" Cato asked, spooning it up.

Glimmer spared a glance for it, before looking at her nails again. "I think."

Cato poised the question that was nagging him. "Okay, how come you're looking at your nails? You won't be able to check them in the games."

Glimmer locked her emerald eyes on him. "We have interviews soon, and Cinna wants to pick up sponsors with my… you know, my looks, so I'm trying to stay in a reasonable shape. Also, I'm slightly vain."

Cato raised his eyebrows. "Slightly?"

She sighed. "A bit, but not enough to get me killed. If it's mud or life, I'll eat the stuff in buckets."

Cato nodded, but he wasn't too sure. He was still trying to get to grips with Glimmer; kind, but brutal. Funny, but she would kill everyone to win. She helped him; but she also left him. And he was sure her vanity was a bit more than she was willing to admit. "That's why you have one sandwich and I'm eating for my entire District?"

She smiled, her face lightning up. "That's it Cato!"

Cato looked at her features; the defined jaw, and cute chin, the striking cheekbones that gave her face a strong, dangerously beautiful quality. Cato knew he was putting that in the poem.

She flicked her hair back as she opened her sandwich, and it caught the light, going gold.

Cato realised she was talking, and he didn't know how he'd missed it. Her voice was so incredible.

"What?" Cato asked.

Glimmer looked at him, smiling slyly. "Ignoring me like that will get you killed in the arena."

"You have a high opinion of yourself," Cato pointed out. "You're acting like you're the expert, like you've already won."

Glimmer held Cato's gaze. "Cato, I'm no Thresh, I'm not you," Cato felt his face warm, "but I can use knives, spears, and I'm faster than you for a start," she was, Cato agreed. She had considerable skill with a knife, and he knew she'd be going for that first. She'd proven all that stuff in training, and she wasn't a bad shot with a bow, but no master. But Cato was superior in hand to hand, his strength coming in, and she could only run when he got a sword, "and I know how to survive. Trust me, Cato dear, stick with me, and combined, we'll be walking away victorious."

Cato didn't mention that there was one victor; she knew it, but they'd reach that eventually, and he realised she'd called him 'dear'. Mocking? Cato didn't think so, and made his face flush.

Glimmer gestured at his food. "Load you up with protein and fat; you'll both lose and use it when we get to the arena."

Cato scowled, starting to eat. "What about you? Why don't you load up?"

Glimmer sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Don't you listen? Look, I need my figure for sponsors, and even if I didn't, I _need _to be slim and fast for fighting. I haven't got strength, and I never will. But you," she pointed at Cato, "have. You'll be our strength. You'll scare Thresh and even if you don't kill, you can hold them down. But I will kill, even if it's for both of us. I just wish you'd get angry."

Cato was flattered by what she was saying. And he understood the anger. He was dangerous when that came. Dangerous enough to take down Thresh…

"And if Thresh overpowers us? You'll run?"

"Wish we could have a conversation without you going back to that," Glimmer snapped.

Cato shrugged. "Sorry." He wasn't though.

She looked at him, as if sizing him up, before sighing, and picking at her sandwich.

"I just wish we could make you mad," Glimmer said ruefully.

Cato thought about it; they could win if he got past killing; if he was angry. But it'd never happen… unless… if he had a reason too…

Glimmer was intelligent and thinking along the same lines. "Maybe I'll take one for the team," she joked.

They laughed and tried not to think seriously.

Glimmer looked at him. "How much do you weigh?"

Cato shrugged. "205kg, I think."

Glimmer's eyes widened. "Jeez, that's a lot."

Cato looked down. "I have a lot of muscle."

Glimmer shook her head. "No, it's not bad, it s just big. See? You have the strength, I have the speed. You're 6'2, right?"

Cato nodded. "Or so."

"See, I'm only clocking 5'4 and 110kg. I'm screwed if Thresh decides to pick on me."

Cato felt a burst of protection. "I'll try my best."

Glimmer smiled. "Yeah, I know you will. And I'll try to as well."

Cato was still unsure as to if she would bolt, but he just shrugged and tried to put on weight.

After eating his fish, and most of the plate, he moved back. "I can't eat anymore. I'm going to stop putting on potential strength and become too slow for Thresh. I need to be quick too."

Glimmer nodded. "You can dump the rest. Maybe it was a bit too much."

Cato looked over at Thresh, who was holding that baker boy off the ground, the Baker trying to say something. A bowl with brown stuff coming out was crushed at Thresh's feet.

Glimmer saw him looking.

"Him or us, Cato. This isn't the scouts. We're not here to make friends and learn how to get badges."

Cato made to stand up, so Glimmer gritted her teeth and thought on her feet.

"How long should a guy go before he cums?" Glimmer asked.

Cato looked around, completely distracted. "What!?"

"You know, eject his sperm?"

Cato stared at her.

Glimmer titled her head and looked down at her plate. "Just wondering…" She drunk her grapejuice.

**GLATO! This chapter was me having fun with the pair and showing off their less likable sides. Well Glimmer's; Cato's just too sweet. He, completes, her. Anyway! The more reviews, the faster the updates! Please take a second to follow or favourite, but most importantly, please, if you've kept reading, just put in a 'lol'. It's all I get for writing this; just a little support. I hope you still enjoyed Cato and Glimmer! I don't want to ruin them in your eyes, so please tell me I didn't! (Hopefully). Review for chapters!**


	7. Can I Interest You In A Score?

**Thank you all for reviewing! Glad to see you're still liking Glato, and I hope you enjoy the antics of Peeta Bread and Katniss! I have both in this chapter, and a very awkward interview! Please review, even if it's juts a lol. It may be a waste of time for you, but to me it keeps this story going. Please, let's get to 120 reviews… please. Just put in 'lol' and you've done you're part. Please bother if you read this thing. Don't just leave.**

"**Right cupcakes, we have a big day… of training!"**

Woody drank from his Red Bull, pushing the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

"Todays, you maggots are going to be judged, given a score, and then I'm going to use said score to get you free stuff, like a Playstation, or a Nintendo in the arena!"

"With Mario Karts?" Peeta asked.

"Of course, Peeta!"

"Peter," he corrected.

"Yeah, so for these games to be truly enjoyable you have to do your best, or else they won't give you stuff."

Katniss frowned. "Do they send food, or weapons?"

Woody looked at her. "You want that?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"Okay," he shrugged, "but Peter and I have our priorities in order."

Katniss rolled her eyes as Woody clapped his hands, drinking his Red Bull.

"Okay, let's go down and then you get called and I want you to hold everything back! Don't show them anything good."

Peeta didn't agree. "But how do we get sponsors then?"

Woody looked miffed. "Fine! Just show them all of it then! But when 'The Monster' eats the Baker, then you'll be sad!"

Peter shrugged. "I thought you said 'The Monster' was a pussy? He wouldn't eat me."

"ARGHH!" Woody stormed off, leaving them to their own devices.

**They sat down on tables in the training centre with just a door separating them from their destinies.**

Peeta was quite happy with it. He had a great thing to show them; he was set, and Cinna even dropped in.

"So, like, Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected.

"Yeah, well, we totally have a problem! The clothes are, like, two sizes too big, and I, like, can't use them for anything else, because that's like, terrible and they just don't fit!"

Peter stood up. "Okay, we can deal with this. Oh, what am I saying, my performance is going to be ruined!"

Katniss wished he didn't come from her district.

Cinna held his hands up. "Listen, like, I have sorted you out baby, I have a total outfit. Justin himself wore it!"

"You mean, Justin Beiber?"

"No honey, I mean, like, Justin Gatlin."

"Who's he?" Peter moaned.

"It's okay!"

Katniss just backed off, and thought happily to herself that she was going to get a better score then Peter the Diva.

People started getting led in; Katniss thought it was supposed to be in an order, but everyone went in, in what appeared to be… chances of survival.

Thresh went first (obviously) but she had to be before Peter or else she would kill herself there and then.

Cinna was flapping his hands. "What do we do?"

Peter set his jaw. "You know, just forget this. Who cares about clothes?!"

Cinna looked shocked, but Peeta kept going.

"We don't need them and making a fuss is stupid."

Cinna looked scandalised, but he walked off, looking extremely nervous. Katniss got up and walked over to Peter.

"Wow, I didn't think you could do that."

Peeta looked at her. "I've been a diva these past few days. I need to get a grip on what matters. Like surviving and… saving you."

Katniss looked at Peeta and sighed. He was a little misguided, but he was sweet and handsome, and he stalked her because he wanted to be with her!

Peeta winked. "But if you want, we can have a quick shag before we head into the arena."

Katniss' face fell. "No thanks."

Peter shrugged. "Oookay, but if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Peeta looked at her. "How about now?"

"No."

"Erm, how about after we get out of the arena?"

"Not ever."

He was getting desperate. "How about _in _the arena?"

"I don't think so."

"How about if I kill a guy?"

"Nope."

"Okay, on the train back?"

"No."

"Tonight?"

"No."

"Some time in District 12."

"No."

"Some time in the Capitol? Victory tour? District 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? 6? 7? 8? 9? 10? 11? Panem? The world? In space?"

"No, no, no ,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no and no."

"How about a blow job?"

"No."

"I finger you?"

"No."

"I finger myself?"

"I'd leave?"

"Finger yourself?"

"No, Peeta!"

"Peter," he corrected. "You jump up and down in front of me?"

"Maybe."

He fist pumped. "Score! Get in there!"

Katniss was amused by his happiness at her doing a few bounces in front of him and how he really seemed to like it.

They turned away and Peeta tried to take her hand. She grasped it, and Peter smiled. Katniss smiled too… as she started to crush Peter's hand. But he didn't let go. His eyes ran with pain, and he was going pale but he held on.

Katniss looked at him. "Let go, Peter!"

He looked back defiantly. "Never if it means losing you."

She felt her heart melt a little; her knees went weak and she longed to swoon in Peeta's strong arms. Then she realised it was Peter.

She let go of his hand , and watched as a load of people walked past. She looked at what order they were going in. First Thresh; obviously, then Rue, then Clove and etc. It seems like the rumours on 'The Monster' were true, because he was still sitting with that blond bimbo from District Crap Names.

Peeta nudged Katniss. "Is it just me, or do all District 1 have crap names? I mean, Glitter, Gloss, Marvel and Cashmere! That's the worst one!"

Katniss couldn't agree more.

"Peeta-"

"Peter," Peter corrected to the guy who was calling.

"Peeta, Peter, whatever your fucking name is, you're up."

Katniss could barely contain her anger. She was lower than Peeta Bread, Ultimate Stalker.

**Glimmer and Cato watched that Baker guy walk, or rather strut, into the room.**

Glimmer looked down at her hands, watching them twitch, as if fascinated. She breathed heavily, before looking at Cato.

"You have an idea of what you're going to show them?"

Cato shrugged. "Maybe I'll strip off my shirt. Instant 12."

Glimmer laughed. "Oh yeah? What if I do that too?"

Cato looked at her, chuckling. "Then I'll get a 7. I'm _at least_ 5 points behind you in that regard."

She scoffed. "5? More like 10."

Cato laughed, but he did catch a small arrogance in amongst the humour in that last statement. "Watch it you. What if they're gay?"

Glimmer grinned, putting Cato's misgivings at rest. "Maybe before, but I'm wearing lingerie."

Cato sat up. "Oh yeah?"

She raised her eyebrows. "I don't think I like how eager that tone was."

He loomed away, smiling. "It wasn't."

"It'd better not be," Glimmer teased.

Just then Clove came rushing up, holding a laptop.

"Cato, I need to talk to you. Glitter, fuck off."

Glimmer looked at her. "No," she said coolly.

Clove looked at her nastily. "Fine, stay; you'll love to hear this."

She sat in the middle, pushing Glimmer over.

Clove put the laptop Cato's knee and a book.

"What's this?" Cato asked.

Clove grinned. "Well, I just looked on Fan Fiction, and everyone ships Clato!"

Cato backed off. "Come again?"

"Us! You and me! Cato and Clove! I mean, you have some…," she glanced at Glimmer, "some Glato, but it's mainly us."

Cato brushed his hair back. "Okay, so, what?"

"Look, we have a romance!"

She shoved the book at Cato and he read the page quickly, which was a line about him begging for Clove to hold on.

"And?"

Clove raised her eyebrows. "Huh? See?"

Glimmer snatched the book, before snorting. "Yeah? And?"

"And," Clove snatched the book back, "he's in love with me! He held my hand."

"It doesn't say that," Glimmer pointed out.

Clove scanned the page. "I'm pretty sure."

Cato butted in. "Okay, so I'm in love with you because I stayed with you as I died?"

"Yeah!" Clove agreed. "You left Glimmer!"

Glimmer came in. "Hey! He was being chased my Tracker Jackers! He couldn't exactly say 'chip chop Glimmer'. He was running for his life! He didn't exactly look after you! We don't even know you're name until page 320 out of 458 and then you're only in 5 pages, max, where I'm sitting on at least 50 from all the times Katniss mentions me and my many lines! I appear in page 194 with my first line, as it's obvious I say that stuff. It sounds like me, having a go at Katniss' dress, because I'm a vain, jealous bitch! And in the movie I was given those lines, and Suzanne Collins wrote the screenplay, and she's the big dog! Page 151 Katniss says I'm sexy and she's recognises me first as a Mutt! Hah! Who has screen time now! You're barely in it, let alone a love interest!"

Clove frowned. "No uh! People write Fan Fiction on me!"

"Yeah! They MAKE it up! They grab any romance they can get! So they had low standards this time!"

Cato tried to come in. "I'm Cato, and I think that the whole holding hand thing was like a Best Friend thing! No! A Sister thing! No romance."

Glimmer smiled smugly. "See?"

Caro pointed at her. "Hey, I leave you for dead. You're just as bad! Me in the book has no love interest!"

Clove and Glimmer died down.

"Good," Cato sighed. "I'm not some person to be made Youtube Videos out of."

Clove perked up. "I have more videos than Glimmer."

Glimmer sighed. "Yeah, but I have the movie! Those who don't read the books, see ME, ME, ME and Me cuddle Cato and flirt with him. My parents knew I was a love interest!"

Clove scowled. "That was Gary's idea!"

"I beg to differ! Collins wrote the screenplay and since there was NO romance before, she added one! I quote: _And Suzanne is __all good__ about understanding that some things work in a book, some things work in a screenplay. __**Plus, she has a ton of fun making up new stuff for the movie**__._ She made a freaking Glato romance! Suck on that! She supports Glato!"

"Cato left you!"

"Cato's a selfish fuck, we all know that. And he was running for his life. He tried to pull me up, so yeah! AND, in behind-the-scenes, I'm about to be stabbed by that District 7 guy, and Cato comes, pulls the guy up, and rescues me. He kills the guy and helps me up! He shouod have let me die! He'll have to do it at some point, but he didn't! Suck on that!"

"When did I do that?" Cato asked.

Clove turned to Cato. "What do you think?"

Cato looked up wearily. "I think you're both clutching at invisible straws, but Glimmer has merit. Collins did write in a Glato into the film. She said herself she wanted the movie to be good, and she liked that, so…" He jerked up. "But this is bullshit, both of you, so just drop it."

Clove looked between them. "Cato, are you telling me you're not going to start a Clato?"

Cato rubbed his face. "Look, the author has read the books and seen the film (he read all the books yesterday), and he obviously saw merit in a hinted Glato with flirts and cuddles, than a BFF relationship with Cato and Clove who grew up in the same District as siblings. Done? It's all bullshit anyway."

Clove got up. "You will regret this Cato!"

Cato nodded.

"I'm coming for you Poet Boy!"

She stormed off and Glimmer slid next to Cato. Cato looked at her and she smiled.

Cato just shook his head in exasperation.

Glimmer looked at the reflection on the table and brushed her hair a bit, looking critically at her reflection, before speaking:

"You know what I hate?" She asked.

Cato shrugged. "My poetry?"

Glimmer laughed, showing her white teeth. "Yeah, that's it! No, what I really hate-," she sobered up, "is when people assume I'm stupid or useless because I'm blond."

Cato nodded. "I know… people think I'm going to win these games just because I look tough. 'The Monster' nickname is an example."

Glimmer rubbed his neck. "You know, we have a lot in common," she stated.

Cato chuckled. "I suppose. I mean, we're both drop dead gorgeous," he joked.

"No disagreement there," she smiled, with that same hint of vanity.

They waited until Glimmer's name was called.

Glimmer took a deep breath, before smiling at Cato and making her way towards the door.

Cato grabbed her shoulder before she could go through.

"Hey, remember; 'I wonder why so soon forgot, are fame and riches; to think of all I'll never own,-

I'm laughing'."

She frowned. "Cato, are you feeling alright?" Then she realised. "That's poetry, right?"

Cato nodded. "Robert William Service, 'Successful Failure'."

"Elaborate?"

"You don't need sponsors, as long as you have what you really need, you'll be fine."

Glimmer looked at Cato seriously. "And what do I really need?"

Cato swallowed. "Err… maybe… someone… I don't mean someone, no, not at all, I mean a partner, like _someone _to watch your back!"

Glimmer frowned. "What about _someone _I care about?"

"Your family?" Cato said stupidly.

Glimmer nodded. "Yeah, my family, that's it." Cato could feel her tension on the word 'family'; but that he could relate too. His family was less-than-stellar.

Her name was called again and she walked to the door.

"Good luck!" Cato called.

She gave him a casual salute from her forehead, her lips pressed together in a small smile, before entering, her blond hair whipping around the door.

Cato sat down and started thinking up lines for his poem: '_Eyes like emeralds?' 'The world was grey… dar-' _He shook his head to get the idea out of his head. He'd get it eventually.

After what seemed like hours, Glimmer finally came back around the door, making her way over.

Cato frowned. "Aren't you supposed to just disappear?"

Glimmer thought for a second. "I think so, but, oh well. Anyway, I think you're up next, then it's that girl-" she pointed at the girl from District 12, " go. Good luck."

Cato stood up, as Glimmer took his hand and squeezed it. "Good luck," she said. Cato nodded, feeling the nerves build up.

He just tried to breathe as Glimmer pushed him up to the door.

"In… you… go," Glimmer panted, pushing him through.

Cato was pushed through a pair of doors, and he emerged in a large room, full of weaponry and stuff, and left to do something.

The Gamemakers looked down on him, as Cato came up, looking at some guy. Cato remembered where he'd seen him before; when he came in. It was Seneca Crane.

Crane came down and sat in a seat, gesturing for Cato to do the same.

Cato smoothed his training shirt and tried to breathe steadily.

Crane smiled. "Cato, right? How are you finding training? Enjoying yourself?"

Cato thought of Glimmer and nodded.

He nodded. "We've had rumours you were bullied."

Cato smiled. "No, it's fine. Glimmer took care of them."

Crane nodded. "Yes, Miss… sorry, but what's her last name?"

Cato realised he didn't have a clue, so he decided to use a poem. "How dreary to be somebody! How public like a frog, to tell one's name the livelong day, to an admiring bog!"

He expected Crane to know that one. "What the fuck was that?" he asked.

Cato frowned. "Erm, that's 'I'm Nobody! Who Are You?'"

Crane looked blank. "Emily Dickenson," Cato elaborated.

Crane shook his head slowly.

"Moving on," Cato said. But Crane didn't want to move on. He just kept staring at Cato.

Cato cleared his throat. "So… I heard you got in the movie?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Errr, you know, the movie… Hunger Games movie, you were in it." Crane looked at him like he was mad. "It had Glato," Cato suggested.

Seneca's mouth had been open for a full minute now.

Cato coughed. "Glimmer told me… do you like the Kooks?"

Seneca looked blank.

"_I'm not saying it's your fault," _Cato begun weakly. "_Although you could have done more, Oh you're so naive yet so… How could this been done…" _He coughed again. "That's how one of their songs-"

"Shut your trap Cato," Seneca said.

Cato shut up.

Seneca leant back. "You… making friends with this Glitter?"

"Glimmer," Cato corrected. "And yeah."

Seneca smiled thinly. "Right… my people tell me she's," he beckoned a guy over, taking a report from him. He looked at it, before reading. "Yes, okay, 'Spending lots of time with Cato', Personality; 'Selfish-"

Cato frowned. "She helped me against Thresh."

Seneca looked up. "The first time perhaps, but not the second time, no?" Cato remained silent. "Yes, we know…-"

"Why didn't you stop it?" Cato demanded.

"Vain, self-centred-"

"Those traits hardly come up!"

"Hardly! But they come up, yes! Arrogant-"

Cato stood up. "What do you care about that!? She's kind, and funny, and she looks out for me!"

Seneca ignored him. "I know about that ring she has; cheating too. Cato, Cato, you don't seem to have found the best company."

Cato moved forward. "Shut up."

Seneca looked up. "Her training went well, you know. Relatively charming, actually, quite seductive is the right word; she surprised me. Her appearance would suggest-"

"What?" Cato demanded.

Crane looked at him. "It would suggest she was vain, useless. I half expected her to try to use baser means to get her score."

Cato was shaking. "Don't mess with her score."

Crane laughed. "No, of course not. I'm just wondering why you'd associate yourself-"

Cato grabbed Crane. "Shut up, or I'll kill you."

Crane paled. "Look Cato, team up with the Careers. I promised your parents I'd keep you alive, but I can't do that if you continue to persist with this… friendship, with Miss Glimmer."

The Peacekeepers took Cato's arms and dragged him back.

"You can do better," Seneca told him.

Cato felt his anger cloud his vision, and before he knew it, he was fighting, pushing away one guy and dragging the other. If he could get a sword, he could take Crane…

He punched the guy on his arm, who crumpled, before running to the weapons.

"STOP HIM!" Crane was shouting.

Cato dodged one stunner and was thankful for being born a Career when another Peacekeeper blocked his way.

He twisted away, grabbing the guy's arm, before lifting and throwing him over his back. He kept running, jumping over a taser and kicking the solider who shot it.

He reached for the sword, before everything went black.

**Yeah, Cato has anger issues if you haven't noticed. Potential problem in the Arena, or maybe a blessing? He's much more deadly with it. Anyway, please review an d tell, me what you thought of it all; Crane, Peeta, Glimmer, the interviews etc. Do you want to see anything? Go and review! I do take opinions into account! And please get this to 120 reviews! Please. Just take two seconds to tap in 'lol' You don't even need an account! It's all I want!**


	8. The Lowest Score

**Thanks guys! We reached 120 reviews, which is fantastic to see! If you gusy get this story to 140+ reviews, I swear I'll release the next chapter the very next day! Yes, if you gusy get it past 140 reviews, you'll gte the Interviews chapter the next day! Please, please review. All you need to put downm is 'lol'. You don't need anything more! **

_Like ships in the night  
You keep passing me by_

**Glimmer sat at her mirror, listening to music and wondering how Cato's interview went.**

_We're just wasting time  
Trying to prove who's right_

She pushed her hair out of her face, looking critically at herself, before smiling. She rubbed her chin, before reaching out for her brush.

A knock on her door alerted her to someone's presence._  
_She went to the door and opened it, to reveal Cato standing in the doorway, grimacing._  
_Before she knew what she was doing, she hugged him, burying her head into his shoulder._  
_Cato coughed. "Wow, a hug. What's wrong?"_  
_Glimmer pushed out the music as she looked at Cato's face. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since the training! I was worried." She saw Cato's expression, and cleared her throat. "I mean, because I need you in the arena after all."

Cato smiled grimly. "I don't think my interview went well. I was still allowed into the games though."

Glimmer took Cato's hand and led him to her bed, sitting him down on it.

Cato gestured at the CD player. "What's that?"

"Ships in the Night," Glimmer answered, but she brushed that aside. "What did you do?"

Cato looked out of the window. "I got into a fight with the Gamemakers." He looked at her. "Have you heard 'Naïve' by the Kooks?"

She shook her head. "Why are we talking about music, Cato?"

Cato nodded. "I'll show it to you if we get out alive. I have the CD at home."

Glimmer frowned. "You attacked them?"

Cato looked at her. "They insulted you."

Glimmer looked surprised, before frowning in concentration. Cato could see her eyes working, but she had it in seconds.

"Cato, don't you see?"

Cato shook his head. "No, but you look very beautiful tonight."

She was wearing a baggy shirt and cotton trousers, her hair spilling all over her face; relaxed, not expecting to have to look good for any cameras, but Cato had never seem her look more breathtaking.

Glimmer smiled at Cato's compliment, before frowning again and pushing her point home.

"Cato, they wanted you to be angry. They know you operate more viciously like that."

Cato laughed. "Are you saying I have anger problems?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Cato wanted to get angry, but he couldn't with Glimmer. She looked far too fragile, though he knew she was much stronger than she looked from training with her, and her voice was soothing.

Cato nodded, and Glimmer smiled at him.

"Oh well… let's hope you get a good score."

Cato nodded. "Are we watching it out there? With Marvel and your mentors?"

Glimmer frowned. "No, we'll just watch it in here. Cashmere will be annoyed, but-"

Cato grinned. "You have a mentor called 'Cashmere'?"

Glimmer waved a hand. "Forget it." She saw Cato trying not to laugh. She smiled, leaning in. "I'm serious!"

Cato laughed, and she tried to frown past her smile.

"Be quiet," she told him, hitting his arm with her fists. Cato didn't feel it and kept laughing, falling backwards.

"Whoa," he hit the edge of the bed and tipped off, grabbing Glimmer for help and bringing her over with him.

They went flying to the floor, landing on the remote, turning the TV on.

A knock on the door came after.

"Glimmer, are you okay?"

Glimmer stopped laughing. "I'm fine!"

"Okay, but remember to keep focused. I don't want you becoming too attached to that Cato boy."

They heard footsteps receding. Glimmer turned to Cato, who was lying under her.

"_I don't want you getting too close to that extremely attractive Cato boy_," Glimmer imitated her voice.

Cato laughed, as Glimmer got off him. He saw Glimmer's shirt lift a bit, and he suddenly realised how close they'd been; how he was in her bedroom.

He sat up, standing, and sitting on Glimmer's bed.

The scores were coming up, and Glimmer scowled at the first tribute.

"I don't like her," Glimmer remarked at a tribute. Cato didn't have a problem with the girl from District 8.

"Why?" he asked.

Glimmer made a face. "She's up herself." She blew a piece of hair from her face. "Excuse me," she made her way over to the bathroom, leaving Cato to watch the scores.

He watched a kid from District 3 get a score of 6, before Glimmer came out of the bathroom.

"What'd you do?" Cato asked casually.

"Nothing," she responded, but Cato saw she'd done something with her hair. She looked at the mirror.

"That's okay, right?" She asked.

Cato didn't see the difference; she was just as breathtaking to him, but he nodded anyway.

She sat down next to him.

Cato brushed his nose. "Are you sure you can cope with the arena?" He joked.

She looked at him. "Pardon?"

"Just your hair; the whole vanity thing."

She pressed her lips together. "I think I can forget about my hair for two seconds, _Cato," _she snapped.

Cato swallowed the lump in his throat as he realised she'd just made fun of his name again, and thought about her abandoning him in the arena, like she did in training.

"I'm better than her," Glimmer joked, tried to break the ice, referring to a girl on screen, District 9, but it didn't quite cut it, Cato catching the arrogant tone again.

"I think she's better than you," Cato tested.

Glimmer glared at him. "Yeah? How so?"

"At least she won't abandon me, or check her hair in the arena," Cato retorted.

Glimmer scowled, the look having a negative affect on her beauty, making her appear older, more worn. "Fine, then pair up with her!"

She looked back at the screen. Cato saw her glare at the girl's picture, and he knew she'd muttered the girls District.

Cato breathed as he realised what might happen; Glimmer didn't hide the fact she was quite comfortable with killing, and the bloodbath was _right_ at the start…

Glimmer sighed, bringing Cato back.

"Sorry," she said shortly.

Cato nodded. "Don't apologise for your nature."

"Poetry?" She asked idly.

"No," Cato replied curtly. She was ignoring him, focusing on the tributes, and he felt a ache in his chest.

Glimmer's picture came up. 9.

She grinned. "That's good. We can work with that!"

Cato nodded. His own name came up. 10.

Glimmer looked at the screen, then back at him. "What did you do?"

Cato shrugged. "I told you it got a bit wild."

Glimmer sat up, focused on Cato.

"Good work!" She congratulated. She hugged him again, and Cato remembered why he liked Glimmer. Behind her more arrogant nature, she was sweet.

"I'm glad for you," she told him. "I'm a little jealous though."

Cato looked into her eyes, and he could see that; her arrogance wouldn't allow her to be beaten by the guy she was protecting, but Cato was pleased she'd admitted it.

"I'm really jealous, actually," she told him.

Cato found it endearing after that honesty. "That's sweet," he told her.

"What?" She had that confused look on her face, which made her very appealing to Cato, transforming her features again.

"That honesty; the jealousy. I just… it was nice."

Glimmer laughed at him. "I don't think it's supposed to be nice."

"Yeah, but on you it looks so good."

She laughed, grabbing his arm and pushing him down, snuggling into him. "That's really sweet of you to say."

Cato felt himself being aroused at her touch. "Call me weird."

She looked at him. "No, no, it's nice. I like those little weird bits." Her eyes had lost the jealous edge, and held a very similar look to his mother when she was proud with him, just far more sensual. It had a very controlling look in it, a 'you're mine' look, but it was very protective. He could see affection bubbling I them, and the touch of her hands on his arm made that more present. He could also see a fire, one which made him think of physical contact, of sex, and he couldn't shake that. On e thing for sure was he'd never seen that light in his mother's eyes. He moved as she released his arm and looked back at the TV. He remembered she was a girl suddenly; A very beautiful one. He could see the curves of her body through her clothes, and he suddenly became very engrossed in his imagination.

On the screen, Thresh's score came up.

"Jeez," Glimmer muttered.

**Peeta was listening to music in his bedroom.**

He looked at posters of his idol, Finnick, and thought about how he and Katniss' screen time was being cut. He decided to resolve that.

He was listening to 'I'm Just a Kid' by Simple Plan, and he thought it reflected him quite well.

"_I woke up, it was seven… think I've got a lot of friends…"_

The door knocked.

"Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected.

Katniss opened the door. "Scores are coming, so you'd best come and watch them."

Peter nodded. "Okay, I'm coming."

He got off his bed and ran up to her; she rolled her eyes, before leading him into the living room, where Cinna, Woody and Effie where sitting, watching the TV.

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, before opening his card tin and laying out some ones with shiny backgrounds.

Peeta made a beeline straight for him.

"Hey, what are those?"

"Well, Peeta-"

"Peter," Peter corrected.

"Yes, anyway, this is one of the only complete collections of Captain Marvel trading cards, with the special gold and silver editions included that exists. I've been collecting for years."

Peter sat down. "That's awesome. Do you have Lato, his main bad guy?!"

Woody nodded, drinking some Red Bull. "Glad you like them."

"And Thresher, with 5000 attack damage!?"

"I have his figurine," Woody grinned.

Katniss leaned forward from the sofa. "Excuse me, did you say 'Captain Marvel'? Like, the guy we nicknamed? District 1 male?"

Both boys looked over at her.

"Girls," Woody muttered to Peeta and they sniggered.

Katniss got closer. "How long have you had these?"

"Years," Woody remarked.

Katniss picked up the tin, scattering the cards, much to Peeta and Woody's horror.

"This dates from 3 days ago! Just when we gave Marvel that nickname!"

Woody shrugged. "So it took off quickly," he said aggressively.

"How? It's got trading cards and action figures, and-"

"Comics," Peter held up Issue One.

"In mint condition," Woody remarked. "I grew up with Marvel."

"You can't have," Katniss stated. "He's only been around for 3 days. I admit it's weird all this merchandise took off so quick, but still."

Cinna leant forward. "Did you, like, hear a Captain Marvel film is coming out?"

Woody, Peter and Effie cheered, and Katniss could just wonder at how a nickname could create such a popular superhero. Then again, his name 'Marvel' screamed stupid superhero. And didn't he say his real name was Jack Quaid?

No! She was getting caught up in it too! Next thing you knew, people would be asking what his powers are…

"_Buy the Captain Marvel Advanced Action Figure, with glowing eyes, only at the Capitol!"_

Everyone watched as this stupid toy was shown off.

"When's the scores coming up?" Katniss asked.

But Peter had bigger problems. "Please, please, PLEASE Woody! Can I please have the action figure! Please buy it! I want it for the arena!"

"What are you going to do?" Katniss asked. "Use his," she looked at the advert, "use his… super punch action or… his projectile launchers?"

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place. "Those are his fireballs," he corrected. He looked back at Peeta. "You won't be able to get the PS3," he warned.

Peeta shook his head. "I don't care! Please, I want the Captain Marvel Advanced Figure!"

Woody nodded. "I'll talk to your sponsors. See what I can do, but I'm not promising anything!"

Peeta nodded happily.

"Good boy," Woody nodded.

They looked at the screen, which had come up with a music video.

"When's the scores coming in?" Katniss asked.

Cinna shrugged. "They don't bother getting our feed up too early. You know, because we're District Scum."

Effie smiled. "But we should all be happy they've kept us alive!"

They all agreed there.

Woody scowled. "I hate being the worst district. No Sky, I can't even watch the fucking 13th Series of 'Doctor Who'! I love that show. Instead, we have Airtel Digital."

"What?" Peter asked.

"Exactly. I don't know either. It's so shit, we get shows back from the 1900s. We're forced to watch shows like' Heil Honey, I'm Home'."

"What's that?" Katniss asked.

"Some Nazi show," Woody sighed.

They looked at the screen. "Here it is!" Woody cried in disgust.

"_I gotta think nice thoughts: Poland, the Sudetenland…" _

"What is this?" Peeta cried.

"A Nazi programme," Woody replied. " I told you, it's shit, but it'd be better if it didn't show the same fucking episode every time!"

"Why do they show the same episode?" Peter asked.

"Because they only got one out before they realised what a fucking mistake they were making. I mean, this show fails because it's not satire—it's just a crappy parody of 1950s sitcoms…with friggin' Hitler as the protagonist. It's just not funny, largely because it has the worst writers in history behind it. All they need to do is add Himmler as Hitler's best friend and the show has really gone down the drain. Man… I just want to see the Christmas special of 'Doctor Who'."

Cinna sighed. "I was watching, like, 'Hunted'. I don't know what's going on, but that guy with the beard is, like, hot."

Katniss sighed. "I was watching 'Waterloo Road'. But I still don't know if Tom's divorced now."

Peter coughed. "Katniss, that happened back in Series One."

Katniss looked down. "Fuck, that's not on! I can't believe I missed it."

Peter nodded. "I like Chalky and that smart kid."

"Who?"

"You've missed a _lot_. They have a new headteacher."

"Jack Rimmer's not head now?"

"Who? No we have Michael Byrne, the super Head. He's very talented."

Katniss started crying. Peeta came over and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay… I missed 'Merlin'. I didn't see the last episode, but I recorded it."

Katniss looked up. "Oh big deal Peeta!"

Peter didn't correct her. He knew she was distraught.

"You missed _one _episode and that's fucking recorded! I missed a couple-"

"Seven Series'," Peeta supplied.

"SEVEN!" She dropped into crying herself into Peter's shoulder.

"But-" Peeta started.

"What?" Katniss asked.

"I have ALL the series on box set. You, me, we'll watch all of them before the games and we'll get back for Thursday, 8.00pm to watch Episode 5. How's that?"

"Oh Peter!" She wrapped her arms around Peeta. "Thank you!"

Peeta nodded. "I watched you watch it. I heard you tell you mother you loved it, and I saw you're TV get stolen. So I brought all the Box Sets. I was going to throw them to you when you passed, just like I did with the bread that one time, remember?

Katniss' eyes shined. "Peter!" She hugged him again. "That's so romantic!"

"Sounds like he was stalking you," Woody remarked.

But Katniss didn't care. She smiled at Peeta, her first smile she'd given him.

"Is Tom Clarkson still in it?"

"Ageing well," Peeta grinned.

Katniss beamed.

"Hey!" Woody interjected. "Did you hear that the author, 'There She Goes, And She's Comin' has passed his drivers test thing!?"

Cinna groaned. "No. He can, like, drive his shitty stories to his friends now and, like, make them read them!"

Effie smiled. "Well I think a bit of publicity is what this story needs if we're going to get up to the 150 reviews-"

"SHUT UP!" They all shouted.

She sulked in the corner.

"I'm watching the 5th Series of 'Merlin'," Peeta sighed. "I'm happy Uther's dead. Arthur's a much better King, but Merlin needs to use his magic."

They all nodded.

Effie smiled. "Well, I'm watching Nigella's Italian. Is anyone else?"

"Get out!"

"Oh!"

"I don't think so!"

They all groaned and waved her away.

Woody held up a hand. "Hey! Effie can like what she likes!"

Effie smiled. "Thank you, Woody."

He nodded. "I mean, she's got an impressive pair of… erm-"

"Friends," Peter grinned.

Woody winked. "You seen them too?"

Katniss rolled her eyes as they laughed together.

Suddenly the screen flared to life.

"Thank God…," Katniss muttered.

Tribute names came up, in order of Districts they came in.

_District 1: Marvel_

"Look, it's Captain Marvel!" Woody shouted.

_8 and a bit._

"He obviously didn't show his powers off," Cinna remarked.

_District 1: Glimmer_

Katniss snorted. "Little Miss Glamour… She has no chance. What did she do? Flick her hair?"

_9_

"Shit…," Katniss muttered.

Woody stood up as the TV lost connection again. "Never underestimate your enemy, unless you really think you can! Hot Girl obviously showed a skill we don't know!"

They sat back moodily. If Woody could give this advice, it had to be obvious.

_District 2: Cato_

"Lol, lol, he read them poetry!" Peeta cried.

_10_

Woody shat his pants. "Well, we totally fucking misjudged him," he muttered.

_District 2: Clove_

"Ahhh!" Katniss screamed. "I heard she's going to be Clarisse in 'Sea of Monsters' the new Percy Jackson film! I love her!"

_10_

"Yeah, and she's going to gut us before the premiere," Peter muttered.

_District 3: Bloodbath Fodder_

_4, no, 6, maybe, how about a 7. Yeah, he seems okay then when he gets killed._

_District 3: Female Bloodbath Fodder_

_We'll hurry up. 5_

_District 4: Tracker Jacker Guy_

_6. Doesn't matter. Katniss is throwing a bee hive on him._

_District 4: Female._

_Who? 6_

_District 5: Another Useless Guy._

_4_

_District 5: FoxFace_

_Why's she called this? Because Katniss couldn't give a shit to check her name. 5_

"Look, it's Gingernut!" Peeta cried.

_District 6: Bloodbath Guy_

_3_

_District 6: Another Bloodbath Guy_

_4. Oooh, competition._

_District 7: Is this someone important?_

_8_

_District 7: Dead Girl_

_7. Nah, just joking. 2_

_District 8: I used to think Thresh and Rue were in this District. What's this one do anyway?_

_5_

_District 8: Girl_

_9. Ha, ha, go kill her!_

_District 9: Please give me a character that matters_

_7_

_District 9: Bloodbath Death_

_9 for District 9!_

_District 10: Finally near the end…_

_6_

_District 10: Girl _

_6_

_Finally, named characters!_

_District 11: Thresh_

_11_

"Big fucking surprise," Woody said sarcastically.

_District 11: Rue_

_11_

"Ergh, horrible little monster, that one," Effie sniffed.

Katniss remembered her fighting that guy, screaming at him/her? to say her name. She shuddered.

"Finally!" Woody laughed. "Time to get our good scores!"

_District Shit: Katniss 'Has-A-Second-Name' Everdeen_

Bated breath filled the room.

Then the TV went off.

"NO!" Woody screamed, hurling himself at the TV.

"Woody!" Cinna cried.

Woody's face connected with the screen, blowing it to pieces.

Effie screamed.

"Our scores!" Katniss screamed. "We need them!"

Woody pulled his head out of the TV, jerking up. He pointed at the door.

"Leona Lewis and Taylor Swift are having a cat fight through that door!" Before he dropped unconscious.

Peter stood up. "Go to another District's room! We need a TV!"

Effie, Cinna, Katniss and Peeta all sprung up, running for the lift.

_You make me want to shut it all down, throw it all away!_

'Loser Of The Year' by Simple Plane, makes great background for this scene. Play it now, go to the Chorus and listen to it as they find a TV.

_So why do I feel like it's all just a show?_

The elevator doors opened.

_You make me wanna shut it all down,  
Throw it all away,_

Peeta hit the first button he saw: 11_  
Cause I'm nothing if I don't have you._

"That's Thresh zone!" Katniss screamed. Peeta hit Floor 1 instead.

_What's the point of being on top,  
All the money in the world,_

"Hurry up," Peter moaned._  
If I can't blow it all on on you.  
So, send the cars back,  
Put the house on the market,_

The doors opened._  
And my big dreams too.  
Because it's all so clear,  
Now without you here,  
I'm the loser of the year._

They stopped as they looked at District 1, with two blond, good looking mentors, and Marvel. Glimmer wasn't present.

Peter dropped into a bow. "Captain Marvel! I'm a huge fan!"

As Peter got an autograph signed by him, Katniss made her way up to the screen.

_District Shit: Katniss 'Has-A-Second-Name' Everdeen_

_0_

A zero? How'd she get that! She started breathing heavily.

"No, it's wrong, it's…"

Cinna dragged her away, while the District 1 people looked at them strangely.

Woody came down the lift.

"Whatsup?"

"**I GOT A ZERO!"** Katniss screamed.

Woody's ears exploded, blood flying out from the force of her cry.

"Fucking shit, sweetheart, just tell Panem it!"

Peeta grinned. "Ha, ha, can't get much _worse_ than that! Lololololoololololololololol ololol!"

Woody nodded his head. "No sponsors for you."

Peter smiled looking at his name.

_District Shit: Peeta Mallark_

"They spelt my name wrong!" Peter cried.

_-3_

"A minus!" Woody choked. He fell to the floor, spasming.

Peeta forgot about his name. "I'm… crap."

Cinna cried openly and even Effie couldn't be happy.

"If we just," she began. "No, at least you, no, you got a minus, at least you… no, oh it's hopeless."

Peter looked at Katniss. Together they had re-invented the name 'District Shit.'

**The fact that Peter got -3 is coming in later! I have such GREAT ideas coming up with that! You're going to LOVE them! Please tell me what you thought about the scores, them missing their TV, Glato and ALL of it! Tell me you're favourite bit and please review! I worked hard and I'd love to at least get a 'lol'! Please, it takes two seconds! And you will get a new chapter the NEXT day!**


	9. Enter Peter- Cue: Cato and Glimmer Laugh

**Thanks guys! WE hit just over 140 reviews! Please contnue to review (just put down a 'LOl' if you want) becasue I'm not getting paid for this. Your feedback is the only thing that keeps me going, so please contnue to spend a couple opf seconds just putting soemthing down. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the Interviews! Also, head to the Poll on my profile, and choose your two favourite characters! Also, please Follow and Favourite! Review please! **

**Interview days had come.**

"How'd you get such a low score, Peeta?"

"Peter," he corrected Katniss. "I don't know…"

They were backstage, while Caesar warmed up the crowd. This was District 12's last chance to get sponsors after their terrible performance in training.

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, as he came up.

He drunk some Red Bull.

"Good shit, this… so, do we know what we're doing?"

Peter stared at him. "You have to tell us! We don't know."

Woody held up his hands. "Okay Tuna-Flavour, calm down."

Cinna came up. "Peter, I, like, have your costume ready for you."

"Is it fantastic?" Peeta asked.

Cinna nodded. "Yeah, darling."

Katniss adjusted her dress. "I hate this thing."

Cinna sniffed. "Well, since no-one likes you as a person, we had to make sure they like you as a sex object."

Woody nodded. "Oh, he is so right."

Peter smiled. "I'm going to charm them."

"Pretend you meant to get that score," Woody winked.

"But…" Cinna started. "That's, be, like, against his plan. That's, like, stupid."

Woody frowned. "Forget that then." He looked at Katniss. "You need to dazzle him with your personality. Be charming, brusque, kind, arrogant and all that at once! Keep changing!"

"That's a good idea! Act like a schizophrenic," Peeta agreed genuinely.

Cinna spread his hands. "And, like, if that doesn't work, you can always dazzle them with your body," he told her. "Act fruity."

Just then Glimmer walked past, dressed in a provocative gold dress, which all the guys could see through. Or mostly.

Peeta stared, Cinna blanched and Woody licked his lips.

"_La, la, la, changes…"_

District 5 adjusted his collar as she went past and even Clove gaped.

Then she went behind a door and the music stopped, leaving them all to recover.

"Damn!" Woody remarked. "Pick her up and sizzle her over a barbecue!"

"Like, totally," Cinna agreed.

"_Hot girls, we have problems too, we're just like you," _Peeta sang randomly.

All the guys nodded.

Woody turned around. "So, I don't think the sex route will work now after seeing that hot piece of Panenium ass!"

Katniss frowned. "Cinna, you designed the dress! Why did you make it so good!"

Cinna shook his head. "I like, didn't make it. I chose to work with one District, and I chose you."

"Awww, thanks Cinna," Katniss said.

"Wish I hadn't now," Cinna muttered.

"What?" Peter asked.

Woody swung his hips. "_Hot girls, we have problems too, we're just like yo-"_

"Shut it!" Peter cried. Woody's singing sounded like a rat dying very slowly. Down a drain. While having sex. And taking a dump.

"At least the Arena can't be as bad as that," Peter commented to Katniss.

She nodded in agreement. Give her Thresh any day.

"Here we go," Woody said grumpily, still stung by how his singing hadn't been praised as it should have been.

**Cato wrote down a verse on some paper, pushing his jacket out of his way, sitting on a wall outcrop at the side of backstage. **

He muttered to himself before pushing it into his pocket. He was still muttering when he heard a pair of feet walking up to him.

"Look Clove, I don't care if I got a 10, I'm not going to help you torture those guys from District 12-" he looked up at Glimmer.

He slipped off, his pen flying into someone's head.

"Hello to you too, Decade."

Cato didn't even register the crack against his score. He was staring at Glimmer. He liked to think he was a gentlemen, to look away at a woman's indignity, to think about personality over physical. Then he stared at her dress… or rather, through her dress.

"Cato?" Glimmer called, as if from down a tunnel.

He was looking at the perfect shape of her body, the strain of fabric around the area of her ch-

"CATO!"

He looked up. "Hello?" He said stupidly.

She frowned and looked down. "It's the dress, right? Too much?"

Not enough, Cato thought.

"This will get me sponsors, right?" Glimmer asked.

Cato nodded. "I'd sponsor you…"

"That's sweet," she remarked.

No it wasn't. Not in the way Cato was thinking.

"Anyway, I'm first up, and I just wanted to say, good luck out there," Glimmer told Cato.

Cato nodded as she walked past him.

"Holy fuck!" Cato said out loud.

**Caesar was bored of his job. Watching kids keep getting thrown in and stuff; it just depressed him.**

He turned to the crowd, District 12 watching him on the screen.

He smiled from his chair. "What makes a clock go tick-tock?"

Everyone waited.

"The hip-hop!"

Woody laughed, clutching his side.

"Ha, ha, hip-hop… ha, ha."

Katniss looked at Peter. "Is it a side effect from living in the Capitol?"

Peeta shrugged. "Just shoot me if I sink that low."

They looked at the screen as Caesar cried:

"And now, I present you District 1's female tribute! Let's see if she lives up to her name… I give you GLIMMER!"

Peeta and Katniss watched as the blond girl came out onto the stage.

Cinna coughed. "Excuse me bros, I'm off to go… to the toilet."

He rushed off.

Katniss watched him away. "What's wrong with him?"

Peter sighed. "He's gone off to masturbate."

"Oookay," Katniss breathed.

Up on stage Caesar was asking Glimmer a question.

"So, how have you found training so far?"

Glimmer smiled, displaying even, white teeth, before crossing her legs, displaying more skin.

Peeta breathed heavily. "I'm off."

He tried to run, but Katniss grabbed his arm.

"I don't think so!"

"Please," Peter whined. "I need to get rid of it! They're hurting meeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Woody grabbed Peeta. "Okay son, we have you. Don't look and you won't get hurt."

Glimmer started speaking. "Well, it's certainly been interesting, watching the other tributes. Assessing them… after all, we do have the bloodbath first thing."

Caesar nodded. "Of course… anything that's stood out so far?"

Glimmer laughed. "Yeah, there's this guy from District 2."

Caesar leant in. "Really? Friends?"

"Yes, and yes."

"But only one comes out."

"And it gets harder and harder to accept that."

Caesar sighed for everyone. "But you'll do what you have to do… when the time comes?"

"24 tributes; hopefully I won't have to confront him."

"But if it's just you two?"

"Don't torture me Caesar."

He held up his hands. "No, but I think we're all interested in what's going to happen."

Glimmer pushed her hair out her face. "I'm sure," she said rather more darkly than she intended.

The interview continued on for a while, but Glimmer eventually walked off to huge applause.

"Be charming..." Woody told Katniss.

She looked around, smiling and giving him the thumbs up. "Thanks for that fucktastic advice!"

Woody smiled and withdrew as Marvel came up on stage.

"Captain Marvel!" Caesar gushed.

Marvel waved, laughing as he sat down.

Caesar looked at him. "You're the talk of the town… but I think I speak for all of us as I ask: What are you're powers?"

Marvel, who had pinned Peter to a wall with a spear due to him calling him a superhero, seemed to have had the same brainwash everyone in Panem besides Katniss had been given; he seemed to have been a superhero for years now from the way he told it.

"Well, when I fell into a box of Extravagant Goods, you know my District makes them, I got my powers. I must have been six when it happened."

Caesar nodded. "I hear you have a movie coming out?"

"Yeah, the day after the games finish."

"We have a clip… who'd like to see it?"

The crowd roared, including Peter and Woody. Cinna came back just to hyperventilate at the movie announcement.

Katniss was forced to watch the trailer in silence and wonder how the hell he was going to get sponsors from this.

_Peeta came on with Marvel:_

"_I can't tell you what to do, only what's the right thing to do."_

Peter nearly had an orgasm. "Fucking yes! I'm the BEST FRIEND of Captain Marvel! YES!"

Katniss grabbed him. "Peter, when did you do this? When did you do the acting?"

Peeta shrugged. "Who cares?"

Woody threw his Red Bull on the floor. "What the fuck! Peter's in it and I'm NOT! I hate my life!"

_The music hit a pitch, Marvel doing some punching and jumping, fighting a huge guy who Peeta said was Lato, his main bad guy, and it finally hit a peak, stopping…_

"_Anyone order pizza?" Woody stuck his head around the door, holding a pizza._

Woody fist pumped. "Hell yeah! I'm the pizza guy! I got in the movie as comic relief! Suck on that Peter!"

Katniss didn't tell him he only had one line, whereas Peeta seemed to be in most scenes, but she just shrugged.

_Marvel threw a car, talked to some people at a desk as jack Quaid, his alter ego, and then he was kissing Glimmer._

"I think Glimmer was an excellent choice as Mary-Kate," Cinna said.

Katniss sprang forward as Peeta and Glimmer stood next to each other, joking on how Marvel had just jumped a 20 foot high fence, and they now had to find a very normal way of getting up. The crowd laughed.

Katniss grabbed Peeta. "When on earth did you EVER talk to Glimmer? That never happened."

Peter shrugged. "I don't know."

"How'd this superhero thing hit off!? It was a silly nickname!" Katniss shrieked.

Just then, Marvel's interview came to an end and Clove went up after applause.

"I'm looking forward to killing Cato, my district partner! But I'm also going for Peeta Mellark-"

"She got my name wrong!"

"-he's first on my list!"

Needless to say her interview was a bit freaky as she named her knives and talked about him she put Tim (her 6 inch knife) to bed each night.

Then 'The Monster' came up.

"How'd you get such a good training score?" Caesar asked. "We thought you were a pussy?"

'The Monster' frowned. "I don't know."

"Anyway, I heard you're acting Lato in the new Marvel movie. He's main bad guy; how do you feel about that?"

'The Monster' looked blank. "I'm what?"

They moved through tributes until they got to Thresh.

"So, I hear you're the deadliest tribute, got a grudge with Cato. So you're going for him first?"

Thresh barked.

"What?"

"Grrr!"

Caesar fell back. "Excuse me?"

Thresh leapt at him.

Caesar screamed as Thresh fell on him.

After they got Thresh off, and they went through more tributes, Caesar trying to regain his composure, they got to District Shit.

"Good luck, sweetheart," Woody said. "Remember, friendly, arrogant, evil-"

"That's terrible advice!" Peter cried.

"Ignore it then," Woody grumbled.

Katniss felt worse than ever as she walked up to the stage.

She let Caesar dribble drool over her hand, and sat down.

"So," Caesar started. "How did you get such a _**shit**_ score?"

Katniss remembered Haymitch's advice.

"I was really vibed up and I went in and tried my best!"

Caesar frowned. "Okay… so, are you confident?"

Katniss nodded. "Like, totally!" Okay, now act evil.

Caesar nodded. "Okay… er, how are you liking the Capitol?"

"I hate it! Why don't you get out of my business, you blue haired prick!"

Caesar was thrown. "Sorry!"

"It's okay dude! We rock it!"

Woody starting spasming. "No… no, no, no, she's doing it wrong!"

Peeta grabbed the screen. "Katniss! Can you hear me!? Ignore Haymitch's advice!"

But Katniss kept going.

"I hate Snow and all he stands for, but I LUV the way he does his hair!"

Caesar looked scared. "Okay! What's your skill?"

Katniss winked at Caesar. "Let's kept that between me and you!"

"Okay," Caesar whined.

Katniss frowned. "What's wrong with you, Mr Okay? Do you have an opinion? You're as bad as my stupid mentor!"

Woody chuckled. "That's good… hey, wait!"

"I love killing people, but I'd hate to see them hurt!" Katniss stated.

Caesar was crying now.

He leant in, before pleading urgently. "Please, even that Thresh freak gave me something, and he ate the table! _Please!" _

Katniss scowled, but then smiled. "I'm not a bimbo for you to use!"

"Bu-"

"I'll twirl!" She grinned. She stood up.

Cinna blanched. "But- the dress has no special fire to it! I-" He ran out to the stage, pulling out his lighter. Woody and Peter just stared at Katniss, who was now twirling like a lunatic.

"Yes, very pretty," Caesar muttered.

Cinna got to the front row of seats, and pulled out his lighter. He flicked it, a flame sprouting, before throwing it at Katniss' dress and melting into the shadows.

Her dress caught, and Caesar leapt back.

"You're on fire!" He screamed.

She smiled. "I know!"

The crowd all started commenting on how great her dress was, quite unaware it was going to burn her to death.

Peeta was in panic backstage. "What do we do?!"

Woody drunk his Red Bull, pushing his hair aside, which was a waste of time as they fell back straight after.

"I'll get her!"

Peter looked at him like he was mad. "But- you're half jacked up!"

Woody smiled. "Red Bull gives you wings!"

He ran round the corner, and up onto the stage. Katniss was burning now, still twirling, stuck in a world of her own.

Woody ran past Caesar and dove at Katniss throwing her to the ground, and getting his trouser leg set alight.

All in all, it went pretty badly.

Peeta and Cinna stood together, watching the Peacekeepers hose off a burning Katniss and Woody. Still; they liked her dress and Cinna's phone kept beeping for collective orders. Cinna leant in to Peter.

"Peeta-"

"Peter."

"Peter, you're our secret weapon! You have to save District 12 and get us sponsors!"

Peter nodded. "Get my suit."

Cinna hurried off.

Caesar was in tears as Katniss was pulled off, unsure if he'd just interviewed a suicidal schizophrenic.

After he'd recovered his composure with liberal amounts of morphine, he looked up.

"Next up… it's the guy who got a MINUS score! Peeta Mellark!"

**Cato unblocked his ear to hear the hissing that was coming from Glimmer.**

"I had a much better dress than her; far more beautiful. Stupid airhead, spinning in a circle while she's being set alight and people like it! They like it! Fools, they're all idiots. Just wait until we get to the arena Cato, mark my words."

"Consider them marked," Cato replied crisply. "But nothing speaks innocence like ignorance, and that, I think we can assume, she has in abundance."

Glimmer smiled at him. "Nice to see you taking my side."

Cato coughed. "Still… jealousy ill becomes you."

She scowled, her features turning ugly, just like while they watched the scoring. "Consider me flawed then."

Cato looked at her. "I could… but just try to ignore it. Who cares?"

Glimmer grimaced. "Yeah, whatever."

Cato swallowed. He knew she'd found a new target for the arena.

"I thought you were better looking," he told her, "but those Capitol's couldn't pull it off, so jealousy is a natural emotion. Of course they're going to grab anything they can pull off; in this case, a burning dress with a pathetically skewed character twirling in it."

Glimmer smiled grudgingly. "Is that quoted, or is it your own?"

"Cato's Own," he confirmed.

"And don't I love it," she muttered.

**Peter came running on, but was waylaid by another tribute.**

"Hey, you're the guy who got a minus!" He cried.

Peeta shook his head. "Pretty sure that wasn't me!"

"It was! Peeta Mellark!"

Peeta smiled. "But I'm 'Peter' Mellark."

The guy frowned. "Oh, yeah, guess you're right. Sorry mate."

Peter smiled. "It's cool." He continued onto the stage.

Katniss, now smiling at Woody after her great performance, was watching.

"Was I good?"

Woody just looked at her. "I didn't know who you were! One minute happy, the next sad; not to mention nearly burning to death"

Katniss looked away in a huff, because she'd been perfect and then saw Peeta.

"Oh, come on… my blood pressure is already high enough," Woody muttered.

Peter was on-stage… dressed in a 'Rory the Dinosaur' costume.

Cinna had created a green dino outfit, like what kids wear; Peter's head stuck out of the mouth, with dino gloves on and his shoes were covered with flaps to give him realistic dino looking feet.

Caesar looked taken aback.

"Rarr," Peeta cried, holding up his stupid claw gloves.

Caesar pretended to be scared. "Yes, very scary."

Peeta sat down. "It's okay though, I'm not a weirdo like Katniss."

The crowd laughed, because he looked like one.

"Did I say something?" Peeta asked, knowing full well why they were laughing.

Caesar grinned at him. "So, Peeta-"

"Peter."

"Sorry, Peeta-"

"Peter."

"I said Peeta?"

"No, you said Peeta, I mean Peter."

Caesar was confused. "What's the difference?"

"Well, Peeta's Peeta, and Peter's Peter."

"I don't get it."

"Well, just call me Peter."

"Okay… Peeta-"

"Peter."

"Right, what you said. Anyway, how are you finding the Capitol?"

"I'm finding it… roartastic!" He raised his hands and pretended to roar.

Katniss flushed with embarrassment that this was her partner.

**Cato and Glimmer laughed their heads off at Peeta roaring in his chair.**

Caesar tried to smile, but he just looked sick.

"Okay… how'd you get such a low training score? I mean, minus! That must be a record!"

Peter shrugged. "I can't talk about it."

"Yeah, but you must really _suck _to do that badly. I mean, _really _badly. Who'd want to sponsor you?"

Peeta shrugged again. "They might do it for comic relief. Keep the useless one alive through gifts. That's never happened before, and imagine if I won!"

Woody fist pumped. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Caesar nodded. "I think you have a plan. Was the score an act?"

"What act?" Peter asked.

"Forget it. How are you finding your fellow tributes?"

Peter grinned. "Well, I'm not too scared."

"No?"

"I mean, Gingernut-"

"Who?"

"Oh, District 5 female."

Caesar frowned. "Do you have nicknames fro all the tributes?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah! See, District 1 female is Bubbles."

"You mean Glimmer?"

"Yeah, Bubbles."

**Glimmer** **opened her mouth in outrage. "I am NOT called Bubbles-"**

Cato laughed openly.

**"Cato's called Sonnet. You know, because he likes poetry, but everyone else calls him 'The Monster'. So that's his real nickname."**

Caesar was smiling now. "Go on?"

"Well, Clove is Garlic… you know, because she's 'Clove' and she stinks!"

Caesar nodded.

"Well, I don't know who the others are, so they're just Fodder. You know Gingernut. Thresh is Mr T."

"Why?"

"Don't know. Rue's harder, but I think Gollum is right."

"Why?"

"Because she's evil and small!"

The crowd laughed, but backstage it was different.

Woody was pale. "Peter knows he's the lowest on the food chain, right? He can't make fun of-"

"Move," Thresh growled, appearing just behind them.

"Sure," Woody said, keeping his head down and moving out the way.

Peeta was grinning happily. "I don't have one for Katniss."

"Why not?"

Peeta looked down. "No reason."

Caesar grinned. "You got a girlfriend Peeta?"

"No."

"Handsome boy like you, I don't believe it for a second."

Peeta shrugged. "There is this one girl."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's- I've been stalking her since we were six…"

"Stalking her? Isn't that illegal?"

Peeta looked confused, smiling. "What's your point?"

Caesar looked confused. "Continue."

"Yeah, so, I can't take my eyes off her. I brought her a Box Set to show my love… but she, yeah, she didn't get it."

"Well, let me tell you. You go out, and you win this thing. Then she HAS to go out with you."

"I don't think winning is gonna help me."

"No? Because you can't?"

Peter looked up indignantly. "No! It's because she fucking came with me!"

Caesar breathed deeply. "Peeta… is it Garlic?"

"No."

"How about… Bubbles?"

"No! But I wouldn't mind tapping that."

"Wait, she's from your District… is it Effie?"

"Fuck no!"

"Fine, how about Haymitch?"

Woody started fanning himself. "I'm all a flutter!"

Peeta looked exasperated. "Hello? 'She'." Caesar still looked confused. "Goddamit, it's Katniss!"

"Ohhh!" The crowd went.

Katniss blanched. That's why he volunteered… why he kept stalking her… why she didn't seem to put it all together until she was told for dramatic effect…

Caesar frowned. "You mean the girl who got a zero?"

Peter went off to applause, waving his hand in his stupid dinosaur costume.

Katniss and Woody went to get him; Woody because he was angry Peter had just thrown aside their love like an old rag, and Katniss because she needed to punch him; hard.

They reached Peter and Katniss threw him against the wall.

"What the fuck Peeta, you made me look weak, you ruined my reputation-"

Woody grabbed her and pulled Katniss back. She glared at Peeta, breathing heavily.

Woody looked between them before focusing on Katniss. "Hey Tuna Flavour."

"I'm a tribute!" Katniss snarled.

"You're too excitable," Woody told her.

"Drank," Cinna commented.

Woody pointed at him. "Oh, he is so right!" He looked behind him. "Hey Peter-," he stopped and looked around. "Wait, who's Peter?"

Katniss pointed at him. "He's Peeta!"

Woody looked at him, before turning back. "No! That's not Peter. He's Codfish Peeta! He ain't our Peter!"

Katniss looked at him. He wasn't Peter. He just looked like him.

"Oh, sorry."

Then the real Peter came around the corner.

"Hey-" He saw Katniss and ran.

**Tel me what you thought of it all: the Cap Marvel movie, Peeta's Dino costume, 'Tuna Flavour'. Or, just put down a couple of letters! I'd love any feedaback! Head to the Poll, Follow, Favourite, etc. Thanks for reading, please review, and from Caesar Flickerman:**

**"Thank you, and goodnight!"**


	10. Uptown Girl

**Hail James, who gave this story over 20 reviews. Right there, that is a man dedicated to his country. Anyway, this is a more classically romantic chapter with both Peter/Katniss and Cato/Glimmer in. No, I kn ow where I'm going, and to 'Girls Whos Name You Don't Know', Glimmer will be more evil in some other chapters, I've already written them. But this is a nice chapter with cliches! Enjoy, and please review!**

"**Do you know who you're taking?"**

Cato looked up, his spoon hovering above his cereal.

"Excuse me?"

His mentor, Brutus scowled. "I said, do you know who you're taking?"

"To what?"

Clove looked up. "I think we should go as District partners."

Cato looked at her. "I think, no." He looked around at his other mentor, the one with an 'E' in her name. "What is this?"

Brutus scowled. "You have a ballroom dance before you head into the arena. It's your last chance to get sponsors. Ideally, you take someone; so yu don't look like a loner."

Cato frowned. "Okay… anyone?"

"Yes."

"But you'll choose me," Clove assured him.

Cato swallowed. "How long do I have to get a partner?"

Brutus frowned. "Well, you had at least 5 days to get one…"

"And now?"

"Tonight."

Cato stood up. "Oh, shit," before racing to the lift.

**Peter leant in to Woody as Katniss walked out.**

"I'm going to ask Katniss to the dance."

Woody snorted his milk all over the table.

"That is MAHOGNANY!" Effie screeched.

Woody brushed his hair out of face, and you get the idea.

"Listen, boy, that's like asking for the moon after what you said in the interviews."

"But they'll expect me to go with her?"

Woody nodded. "Good luck then. Why don't you remind her of that?"

Peeta sat back. Woody wiped his hands with a napkin.

"Look, it's easy," Woody told him. He leant back in his hair, looking over at Effie.

"Hey sweetcakes. You're looking sexy under there. Want to go to the ball with me?"

Effie looked scandalised. "I don't think so!" She stood up and walked off.

Woody lurched to his feet, drinking his Red Bull.

"Wait, I'll fix the table!" He ran after her.

Peeta stared at the lift. "Katniss… here I come."

**Cato ran through the Capitol streets.**

He grabbed a citizen. "I need to find a girl! Neigh high, blonde hair, District 1 tribute!"

The person shook their head. "Haven't seen her."

Cato let the guy go and looked around, hoping to see her. Her mentors had told him she'd gone out to look around the Capitol; no specific info though.

He ran up to a stall.

"Have you seen Glimmer! District 1-"

The woman nodded. "She's very pretty."

"Yes," Cato agreed hurriedly. "Do-"

"Why do you want her?"

"I need-"

"I don't want you taking advantage of her now."

"No, I don-"

"That's what they always say!"

"Look, I'm going to ask her out to the ball."

The woman smiled. "You'll make such a cute couple."

Cato nodded. "Great, you said you've seen her?"

She pointed. "Over there; she was buying an album in a music store."

Cato looked at the store; but in front were tons of Capitol citizens, a heaving mass of movement. Babies screaming, made up woman, whiny men… and Cato needed to get through them all.

Cato ran, trying to force his way through, the people swallowing him up.

**Peeta vaulted a rail, flying through the air and landing on the grass, rolling on impact and sprinting after Katniss.**

He leapt in front of her.

"Hey Katniss!"

She stopped. "What do you want Peter?"

"I wanted to ask you out to the ball?"

"I don't want to go with you though."

Peeta hitched his smile back up. "Why?"

Katniss shook her head. "I don't-"

"Yeah you do."

"I didn't say anything."

"Go with me?"

Katniss scowled. "No! You're so weird!"

Peeta's face turned stony, and he put his hand s in his pockets.

"You want me to be normal? Boring?"

Katniss looked at him, all excitement gone.

"Well, no, but-"

He moved closer. "I know you're angry about me saying I loved you, without telling you, and I know it was sudden, but I can't change the way I feel about you."

Katniss blushed. "Look, Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected softly. "I'm sorry this might end Gale and you, or it could hurt you in any way, but I assure you, I want to protect you."

"You want to be near me," she said accusingly. "Stalker."

Peter nodded. "From the moment I saw you, I thought: I can't be with anyone else. You can move on, but I never will. I tried, and tried, but it's impossible. I told myself I just liked you for the way you looked; lust and all, but that didn't explain why I hid under your window just to hear you speak. Why I was beaten for getting you that bread."

Katniss looked down. "Peter-"

"I had to sell my kidney for that 'Waterloo Road' box set, and you know what? I was just going to throw it to you," he said, looking dumbfounded. "And I wouldn't have cared. You would never know how much I sacrificed for that, but as long as it brought a smile to your face, but it didn't matter. In the interviews… it was a confession done with the best of intentions." Peter spread his arms in a mock bow. "But I guess, I'll be off to be weird now. I'll see you at the ball, supposedly with another man on your arm."

He made to walk off before she grabbed his arm.

"I'm not saying anything will happen," Katniss stated, "but… fine, I'll go with you."

**Cato pushed past the last person and made straight for a mirror in the album shop, one of those that have a band at the side.**

He pushed aside the price tag, and checked his hair, making sure it was right.

He tried sticking the front but it resisted, and he grasped it, pushing it higher.

"You're _doing _it wrong," a teasing voice told him.

Cato whipped around to see Glimmer standing there, grinning at him, arms crossed, a bag swinging from them.

"What's that?" Cato asked, pointing at the bag.

Glimmer smiled. "Gift from the Capitol."

"We don't have any money, though?"

Glimmer held it out for Cato, who took it.

"Lean down," she told him.

Cato obeyed and she put her fingers in his hair, brushing it back into shape.

"Well," she begun, standing on tiptoes, "I figured, I'd make the Capitol pay for it; if I win, I'll be rich enough to pay it back, and if I die, well, I don't have to pay it back."

"Your family might take the-"

"Stay down," Glimmer told him, pushing him back down.

Cato moved his ahead lower, before beginning again.

"Your family might take the punishment."

Glimmer shrugged. "I've never cared much about my family."

"Why?"

"Because they've never cared much about me."

Cato wanted to nod, but that was impossible with Glimmer working at his hair.

She let go and stared at it critically, her hands suspended over his head.

She shook her head and went back to work.

"What's in it?"

Glimmer didn't look around. "A present for you, my dear."

"Pardon?"

"_Pardon," _she mimicked, smiling. "Never been given a present before?"

"Call it medieval in District 2; Just stone and fighting."

She smiled lightly, still occupied with his hair. "Well, that _won't _do, will it?"

Cato nudged it with his foot. "What is it?"

Glimmer let him go, smiling at her work. "Perfect." She straightened his jacket compulsively. "Open it."

Cato leant down and brung it up. He reached inside to find a load of CDs. He pulled them out.

"The Kooks?" he muttered.

He looked up to see Glimmer looking at him anxiously. "You mentioned you like them."

Cato nodded.

"You said we could listen to them together, and these were some special edition, and I knew you liked them, and I figured you didn't have these editions, and I thought, you'd like _them, _and I wasn't really thinking-"

"Thank you," Cato told her.

Glimmer still looked tense. "Look, I'm sorry about abandoning you to Thresh, and being rude to you, and just generally being a bitch."

Cato smiled. "Do you want to go to the ball with me?"

"Do I want to go to the- wait, what?"

"I said, do you want to go to the ball with me?" he held up the bag. "I don't have anyone-"

Glimmer wringed her hands. "Last choice-"

"-because I was waiting to ask you."

She looked at him. Then she smiled. "Go on then."

Cato blinked. "You'll go with me?"

She nodded. "Of course. I'd love to."

Cato nodded. "We could work together to get tons of sponsors."

Glimmer frowned, before smiling again. "Let me do the talking, yes?"

Cato nodded. "Sure."

Glimmer looked at her watch. "Damn, I said I'd be back at 12."

"And?"

"It's 1pm. So I'll need to head off."

Cato nodded. "I'm going to stay here for a bit."

Glimmer nodded. "See you tonight."

He nodded, and once she'd left, walked off and disappeared into the crowd…

"YES!" He jumped in the air. "YES!"

He ran out, crashing into the Baker.

The Baker looked at him. "What are you running around for?"

Cato grasped his arms. "Glimmer will go the dance with me!"

The Baker gaped. "I asked Katniss! And she said yes!"

They screamed like little girls.

Music started up slowly as they walked through the streets, the Capitol people 'ohhh' ing behind them.

**Cato: **_Uptown girl  
She's been living in her uptown world  
I bet she's never had a backstreet guy  
I bet her momma never told her why  
_Peeta and Cato danced as the citizens around them backed them up, with perfect rhythm._  
I'm gonna try for an uptown girl  
She's been living in her white bread world  
As long as anyone with hot blood can  
And now she's looking for a downtown man  
That's what I am  
_They stopped, spreading the arms._  
_**Peter: **_And when she knows what  
She wants from her time  
And when she wakes up  
And makes up her mind_

They clapped their hands as they walked forward.

**Cato: **_She'll see I'm not so tough  
Just because  
I'm in love with an uptown girl  
You know I've seen her in her uptown world  
She's getting tired of her high class toys  
And all her presents from her uptown boys  
She's got a choice  
_The Capitol citizens built up the 'ohhh's, layering them as they reached a higher level, before breaking._  
_**Peeta: **_Uptown girl  
You know I can't afford to buy her pearls  
But maybe someday when my ship comes in  
She'll understand what kind of guy I've been  
And then I'll win  
_They started walking to the beat, fancy footwork taking over._  
_**Cato and Peter: **_And when she's walking  
She's looking so fine  
And when she's talking  
She'll say that she's mine  
_they held their hands to their chests._  
She'll say I'm not so tough  
Just because  
I'm in love  
With an uptown girl  
She's been living in her white bread world  
As long as anyone with hot blood can  
And now she's looking for a downtown man  
That's what I am  
_The crowd started to disband as Cato and Peeta trailed off._  
Uptown girl  
She's my uptown girl  
You know I'm in love  
With an uptown girl_

Peter and Cato stopped, before looking at each other, realising they were rival Districts and walking away.

**Shorter, but if we get enough reviews, I can release the next cahpter the next day! Please just put down something, even if it's just a 'Lol', or 'Crap'. Please, just below. It'll take two seconds, I swear!**


	11. The Hunger Games Ball

**Okay, this is a reward for all your reviews! So nearly at 200! Okay, please just put down a 'good' or 'crap' and tell me what you think of Glato and Keeta! Also, evil Glimer in this chapter. So much fun to write. Also, you guys liked the singing bit, so I included another! No worries, I'm not going to do loads, but I thought it was good!**

**Cato sighed as he adjusted his tie, thinking, with reason, that he looked stupid, dressed in a Custard coloured suit, which the Capitol stylists thought were 'cool'.**

Now that Cinna had defected to join the losers from District 12, he was stuck alone with bad stylists.

He turned away from the mirror, nerves hitting his stomach as he thought about his date with Glimmer. He was sure he was going to mess it up somehow, in some way. Then again, he should have messed it up loads of times before, so he might be fine with that.

He walked out of his room, meeting up with his retinue; Brutus, some stylist, and some random people to make his group look bigger.

"Why are you guys here?" Cato asked, walking up.

Brutus cleared his throat. "We're here to protect you kid, just in case that hot girl-"

"_Glimmer."_

"Yeah, in case she tries to take you out of action."

"You really think that's going to happen?"

Brutus shrugged. "You tell me?"

Cato shook his head. "You're paranoid."

"Hey, I'm not the one going back into the arena."

Cato nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"In my day, we had to worry about hating everyone! Now you fancy youngsters have these _alliances." _He shook his head as if he just didn't get it.

Cato frowned. "Yeah… while you work out your trust issues, I'll be having fun."

"Until she kills you," Brutus added nastily.

Cato walked out the door, his retinue following him.

He reached the door as Clove and her retinue came through too.

Clove smiled at him. "Hey Cato? Going down?"

"To the dance, not six feet under," Cato answered warily. "At least, hopefully."

Clove laughed and they led the way out of the doors, and off down the corridors.

Clove took his arm, and Cato tried to jerk away.

"No, just for show. We look united."

"You want to kill me," Cato reminded her.

Clove ignored that. "Do you like my dress?"

Cato glanced down. "I hadn't noticed it." Clove scowled. "But it's beautiful," Cato added, making Clove smile.

He sighed; he was too nice for his own good. They continued to walk down through the building, going through passages that Cato didn't even know existed. They made their way through into a corridor, and emerged in a huge room, with a doorway that led into the main room.

Cato looked at the architecture, separating from Clove, putting his hands in his pockets and walking casually through the room, avoiding people who were already talking and drinking, making curt greetings to sponsors, promising he'd talk to them later.

"What do you think of the room?"

He looked around to see Crane making his way up in a red suit.

"Most impressive," Cato answered tightly.

Crane nodded, his eyes fixed on Cato. "Are you alone?"

"Not for much longer," he answered cryptically.

Crane nodded. "I can imagine."

Cato looked at one of the pillars, carved to look like a tree.

"Search, birds, search,  
for the site of your nests  
in this high memory  
while it is still murmuring."

"Poetry?"

Both Cato and Crane looked around at the unexpected voice.

Glimmer was coming down the staircase, smiling at Cato, her retinue following behind.

Cato nearly gaped as he looked at Glimmer. She was dressed in a classically beautiful dress; emerald, to bring out her eyes, hugging her figure, but covering her with elegance, quite removed from the dress she wore during the Interviews. Her bare skin seemed almost to glow in the light, her hair appearing as spun gold, tied up in an elegant knot.

Cato swallowed. "Yes, uncredited though."

Glimmer nodded. "Like most of us."

She finally reached the bottom, almost gliding towards Cato.

She saw his suit.

"Mustard?" She commented, teasingly.

Cato shrugged. "It was supposed to be custard."

Glimmer brushed down his lapels. "Mustard is more male," she smiled.

Cato offered her his arm. "May I?"

"You may," she almost laughed. Then she spotted Crane.

"Seneca, how are you?"

He smiled at her. "I'm fine. You?"

"Thriving," she answered. "The food is very good here."

Crane inclined his head. "We aim to please."

Glimmer's eyes seemed to mock him. "I'm sure you have plenty of… _fun_ surprises planned for us in the arena."

Crane held up a finger. "I won't spoil anything."

"I'm not sure you could spoil anything Seneca."

Crane smiled. "You'd be surprised."

Glimmer cocked her head. "I'll just have to use my imagination then?"

"As will I," he agreed, his eyes fixed on hers.

Glimmer stared at him, before smiling at him mockingly, and turning to Cato.

"Shall we go in?"

Cato nodded, leading them in. When they'd pulled away enough, he leaned in to Glimmer.

"You can't afford to anger him."

"What's he going to do?" Glimmer asked him. "Throw me into an arena where there is a strong chance of my immediate death? Oh, wait, he's _already _done that!" Glimmer displayed her teeth again. "Don't read too much into it."

"It's not books I'm worried about," Cato retorted. "It's swords, and killer animals."

"You're scared of me, surely?" Glimmer teased, her emerald eyes fixed on his own.

Cato answered with the only honest answer he had. "Truly."

"_Truly?" _Glimmer repeated. "Terrified would have boosted my ego more effectively."

"Does that really need help?"

Glimmer laughed, hanging onto his arm. "No, I suppose it doesn't." She sobered as they reached the main ballroom, with a huge dance floor, sponsors and rich Capitol citizens talking to tributes or among themselves.

"Shall we dance?" She asked.

Cato nodded. "Yes."

Glimmer leant in as they reached the floor, and started moving slowly to the music.

"Right, we're going to capture the sponsor's attention through dancing, then, we'll talk to them. We'll get them on our side, no worries."

Cato nodded. "Got it."

Glimmer studied him suddenly. "You can dance right?"

Cato nodded as 'The A Team' started.

_White lips, pale face: _Cato looked down at Glimmer's slightly surprised face as she adapted to the fact that Cato could dance._  
Breathing in snowflakes: _The air was cold. Or was that just him, scared as he was, dancing with this incredible woman?_  
Burnt lungs, sour taste: _There was a horrible incense in the air. It made Cato want to gag, and he could see Glimmer was in the same boat._  
Light's gone, day's end: _The only lights were centered on them._  
Struggling to pay rent: _He would if he had to pay back that store for those Kooks CDs that Glimmer had brought him._  
Long nights, strange men: _Cato realised he was a relative stranger to Glimmer, and her to him.

The song continued until the reached the chorus, other voices joining into the tune, and Cato looked around. Everyone was watching them._  
The worst things in life come free to us  
Cause we're just under the upper hand  
And go mad for a couple of grams  
And she don't want to go outside tonight  
And in a pipe she flies to __the__ Motherland  
Or sells love to another man  
It's too cold outside  
For angels to fly  
Angels to fly_

Glimmer got closer.

"Good work."

Cato leant down. "I think we're attracting attention," he nodded over to a group of tributes, the Careers and a few other tributes, who were watching them sourly.

Glimmer spun herself on Cato's arm to get a look at them.

"I see them," she said as she fell back into his arms.

"Remind me who they are?"

The music faded out, and other people started joining the floor.

"We best talk to our sponsors soon," Glimmer mused.

Cato spared them a glance. "Who are the tributes?"

Glimmer smiled. "Our alliance."

"Our what?"

"Well, during training I made an alliance with a couple of people-"

"It looks like a lot of people."

"-and I invited them to work with us. But we'll poison them."

Cato whipped his head down. "What?!"

"Listen, silly," Glimmer reprimanded. "We're going to kill all the bad people, then we're going to poison the last people; the tributes in our alliance. In fact, we're going to do it now."

Cato grabbed her as she made to walk away.

"What?" Her eyes blazed.

Cato stared her right in the face. "I never signed up to work with some killers."

Glimmer looked at him with a pitying expression on her face.

"What about me? I'm going to be a killer?"

Cato stuttered. "I- well, that's- it's not the same thing."

Glimmer brushed her hand against his face. "I could kill you now."

Cato grasped her hand, pulling the ring away. "Stop it."

Glimmer grinned. "You want me as an ally, right?"

"Yes."

Glimmer shrugged. "Then you have to take them too. They help the odds."

"Glimmer-"

She pushed away from him and moved towards the food table, Cato following.

"You can't do this," Cato hissed.

Glimmer watched idly as people took food from the tables. "Why not?"

"It's wrong."

Glimmer looked around at him, glee filing her face. "It's _wrong? _And I suppose its _right _for them to force us to kill?"

"No, but-"

Glimmer turned away from Cato, and reached down to her leg, pulling out a bottle.

Cato grasped the hand that held it. "Don't. It'll poison innocent people."

"No-one's innocent here," Glimmer snarled.

Cato pulled her arm back. Glimmer sighed. "Sorry Cato."

She grasped his hand with her other hand, and spun like they were dancing, but as she did, she applied force to his pressure points, causing Cato drop her hand, and shudder.

She grabbed his outstretched arm, and locked it in-between her own arms. She twisted it savagely, dislocating Cato's shoulder.

He opened his mouth in pain, before Glimmer locked her lips on his, pushing him back onto a chair, giving the impression that they were kissing vigorously.

She pulled away, looking down on him sadly, Cato losing consciousness.

She touched her lips, and Cato only had one thought of drugged lipstick, before he went black.

Glimmer sighed as she looked at him unconscious in the chair. One of their sponsors finally managed to make his way up to them, but he stopped as he saw the scene.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked as he stared at the Cato.

Glimmer laughed. "Too much to drink, I'm afraid."

The sponsor nodded. "Okay. Should we leave him?"

"Let him sleep it off," she replied.

The man grunted. "Would you dance with me?"

Glimmer's smile lit up the man's world.

"I'd love to. Just give me a second. I'm parched."

The man nodded, making his way to the floor. Glimmer watched him go, before moving to Cato's side.

"Sleep it off Cato, and dream of me," she grinned, pushing his hair back, before walking to the drinks.

**10 minutes ago…**

**Peeta led Katniss to the staircase.**

He thought she looked beautiful in a flame red dress, and she thought he looked stupid in a bright pink suit, complete with a hoody in the shape of a birds head.

Haymitch was part of their retinue, and he was smashed as usual. Just even more than normal.

He was bouncing with energy.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, guys, we can dance all night!" He did a little jig, pushing his hair out of his face, but it fell back in so it was a waste to do in the first place.

He saw the stairs.

"Lookie! Stairs to bum glide down!"

And without preamble, he got on his arse and started to 'glide' down the stairs, making little 'bums' as he hit a new stair.

Everyone watched him with disgust as he got to the bottom, Peter and Katniss hurrying after him.

Seneca Crane came up. "Good God man, get off your bottom!"

Woody sprung up, waving a Red Bull. "Youhavemore?"

Crane looked at it. "I think you've had enough."

Woody threw the drink over him and ran into the ballroom, Katniss and Peter following after him.

They backed into the side as sponsors filtered through, before looking at the floor.

'The Monster' and Bubbles were dancing on the floor.

Peter looked at Bubbles in her dress.

"_How girls, we have problems too, we're just like you."_

Woody slid up, with more Red Bull for them. "I loves that songs!" He started hopping. "Hoths Woodies weh have prowblems tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oo!"

Peter and Katniss just nodded, moving away.

Katniss looked around. "What do we do?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know? Dance? Talk to sponsors?"

"We don't have any-"

She was cut off as some Capitol people made their way up.

"Are you Peeta Mellark?"

"I'm Peter Mellark," Peter corrected, holding out his hand.

"Peeta?"

"Peter."

"Right," they shook it. "We want to sponsor you."

"Why?" Peter asked. "Maybe I don't want sponsors."

Katniss looked at him. "Peeta-"

Woody stuck his head over the shoulder of one of the men.

"Ih wants a sponsors!"

He was pushed away.

"Well," one said, as if they had not been interrupted, "we want to sponsor you, because you're so useless it'll be funny to see how long we can keep you alive."

Peeta nodded. "Fair enough."

Katniss looked away as they talked, and, with a shrug, she made her way over to the drinks table.

She looked at 'The Monster', who was asleep on a chair, and made her way over to the 'exotic' drinks section.

She moved up to Bubbles, who was just moving away.

"Excuse me," she said as she brushed past.

Katniss looked at her, in her stupid sexy dress. She consoled herself that she was probably useless, so she needn't worry.

She was just about to take a drink when Peter came up, looking happy.

"Hey, I got us some sponsors, so we're all good."

Katniss picked up a drink. "What one?"

Peeta looked at it, then at her. "I don't drink; not since I sold my kidney."

"How does that stop you from drinking?"

He shrugged. "I don't kno-" they moved out of the way as tributes drank from the drinks, before moving back together. "Yeah, I don't drink. Not much."

Katniss took at drink, wondering at the slightly sour start, but she finished it up, and put it aside.

"Are you actually going to kill anyone in the arena?" She asked.

Peter made a face. "I don't fight."

She frowned. "Yeah you do. You fight all the time. You did during the parade."

Peeta shrugged. "That was dancing. I don't fight."

Marvel had been walking past, but he stopped at that and made his way back.

"What was that?"

Peter turned around to face him. "Hey Marvel, I said I don't fight."

Marvel crossed his arms. "I don't believe it."

"I don't."

Woody came up, his energy wearing off, and now he just looked irritable.

"You do; fucking up the parade like that."

Peeta was closed on both sides. "No, that was dancing! I don't kill, yeah? Just get that."

Marvel backed up, all the tributes and Capitol citizens backing up behind him, Peter setting his jaw and squaring his shoulders.

"Dance off!" Woody cried.

**I Don't Fight **by **Marvel **and** Peter Mellark **feat. **Woody Haymitch. **Muisc: **High School Musical: I Don't Dance (Forgive me)**

**Marvel: **_ Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing.  
_**Peter: **_I've got to just do my thing.  
_**Marvel: **_ Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing.  
I'III show you that it's one and the same:  
Killing, dancing, same game.  
It's easy:  
Step up to the plate, start swingin.  
_**Peeta: **_ I wanna play ball now, and that's all.  
This is what I do.  
It ain't no kill that you can show me.  
_**Tributes:**_ You'll never know it you never try.  
_**Peter: **_There's just one little thing, that stops me ev'ry time YEAH.  
_**Marvel:**_ Come on!  
_**Peeta: **_ I don't fight.  
_**Marvel and Tributes: **_ I know you can.  
_**Peter: **_ That ain't right.  
_**Marvel and Tributes: **_It I could do this, well, you could do that.  
_**Peeta:**_ But I don't fight.  
_**Marvel:**_ Hit it out of the park!  
_**Peter: **_ I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_ I say you can.  
_**Peeta: **_That ain't right, oh.  
_**Marvel: **_ Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor.  
_**Peter: **_ I don't fight, no.  
_**Marvel: **_Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing.  
_**Peeta:**_ I've got to just do my thing.  
_**Marvel: **_Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter swing.  
Two-steppin, now you're up to bat.  
Bases loaded, do your dance.  
It's easy:  
Take your best shot, just hit it.  
_**Peter:**_ I've got what it takes, playin' my game, so you better spin that pitch you're gonna throw me, YEAH._

_I'II show you how I swing.  
_**Tributes:**_ You'll never know if you never try.  
_**Peeta: **_There's just one little thing that stops me ev'ry time. YEAH.  
_**Marvel: **_Come on!  
_**Peter: **_ I don't fight.  
_**Marvel and Tributes: **_ I know you can.  
_**Peeta: **_ That ain't right.  
_**Marvel and Tributes: **_It I could do this, well, you could do that.  
_**Peter: **_ But I don' fight.  
_**Marvel: **_Hit it out of the park!  
_**Peeta: **_ I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_I say you can.  
_**Peter:**_ That ain't right.  
_**Marvel: **_Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor.  
_**Peeta:**_ I don't fight, no.  
_**Woody: **_Lean back, tuck it in, take a chance.  
Swing it out, spin around, do the dance.  
But I wanna play ball, not the fight hall.  
I'm makin a triple, not a curtain call.  
And__I can prove it to you til you know it's true, cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too.  
_**Peeta: **_You're talkin a lol; show me what you got. STOP.  
_**Woody:**_ Swiiiiing!  
_**Marvel: **_HEY  
Come on, swing it like this.  
Oh, swing!  
_**Woody:**_ Ooh  
_**Marvel: **_Jitterbug...just like that.  
That's what I mean; that's how you swing.  
_**Peter:**_ You make a good pitch but I don't believe.  
_**Marvel: **_I say you can.  
_**Peeta and Woody: **_I know I can't.  
I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_You can do it.  
_**Peter: **_ I don't fight, no.  
_**Woody: **_Nothin' to it. Alta boy, alta boy. YEAH.  
Hey, batter, batter, hey batter, batter what?  
One, two, three, four, everybody swing!  
_**Marvel and Woody:**_ COME ON!  
_**Peeta: **_ I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_I know you can.  
_**Peter:**_ That ain't right.  
_**Marvel and Tributes: **_It I could do this, well, you could do that.  
_**Peeta: **_But I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_Hit it out of the park!  
_**Peter: **_I don't fight.  
_**Marvel: **_ I say you can.  
_**Peeta**_**:**__ That ain't right.  
_**Marvel: **_Slide home, you score, swingin' on the dance floor.  
_**Peter: **_But I don't fight, no._

Peter backed up, triumph on his face.

"You can dance," Marvel admitted.

Peter nodded, extending his hand to Katniss.

She took it. "Peter, that was about the coolest-gayest thing I've ever seen."

Peter grinned, leading them onto the floor.

**Woody sighed happily, watching them walk off, before making his way over to a table full of Capitol businessmen, flanked by guards.**

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, before sitting down on the table, leaning back casually.

"How are you gentlemen?"

They grunted greetings.

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

"Right, got the deal?"

"We just need your stake, Haymitch," one replied.

Woody frowned. "Call me Woody. All my friends do-"

"We're not your friends Haymitch Aberthany."

Woody licked his lips. "I don't use that name."

The leader smiled. "No? Why again? Some gay love for Woody Harrelsan, or is it because you can't?"

"What do you mean?"

"We know you've already bet in the past-"

"Yes, but-"

"-and lost. You had to drop your name."

Woody scowled. "I thought the deal was, Peter Mellark wins the games, and I get a lot of money."

"We're just voicing our concerns on your ability to deliver the money if you should lose, Mr. Aberthany."

"Woody Haymitch," Woody corrected.

"You and Peeta should start a club," the leader mocked.

Woody scowled. "I don't need this shit." He made to stand.

"Mr. Aberthany, if you should lose, we all know the consequences?"

Woody licked his lips. "Keep your threats. Peter's going to win."

"Keep that attitude."

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place, drinking his Red Bull.

"We're done," Woody stated, walking away. He looked at Peeta and Katniss dancing on the floor, Katniss actually laughing and hoped to God that Peter had some very generous sponsors.

The song 'Wavin' Flag', the Haiti version where all those Canadian artists took part, was just finishing.

Woody listened to the singer finish the song.

He went up to Peter and Katniss.

"Hey, whose the girl finishing the song? She sounds hot. I'd bang her."

Peter frowned. "That's Justin Beiber, Woody."

"Oh."

**Cato opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings.**

He was lying on a bed, in his room, his jacket was missing and his tie was gone.

He sat up, looking around, tensed.

Glimmer was in a corner, her bare back on display, and Cato almost felt his anger abate in the view of the smooth skin, lean and-

He shook his head. "Here to finish me off?"

Glimmer continued to look at the object she was holding.

"Good evening to you too, Cato."

"What are you doing?"

Glimmer turned, brushing her hair out of her face. "Is this your family?"

She held up the picture, which contained Cato at 11 with his mother and father.

"Drop it," Cato told her.

"Oh," Glimmer gasped. "That's put me in my place." She cocked her head to a side, smiling at him like she was about to slit his throat, but she put the picture down.

Cato propped himself up, his arms shaking.

"Don't," Glimmer told him.

"Why?" He demanded.

"You'll hurt yourself," she made her way over to him, and pushed him down, his shaking muscles unresisting.

She kept her hand on his chest, rubbing it slightly.

"Relax Cato; I'm not trying to kill you."

He almost let his eyes shut from the soothing motion of her hand on his chest.

"What happened with-"

"I poisoned the drinks," she answered curtly.

Cato dropped back completely. "That wasn't fair."

Glimmer smiled at him. "I love that you care. You're so selfless. It's very sexy, if I say so myself."

Cato tried to frown but found he couldn't.

"What did it do?" He asked wearily.

Glimmer sighed. "Nothing yet. The affects will take place later. Until then it will be dormant."

"How long?"

Glimmer grinned at him. "Cato seems to be very interested, doesn't he? Is he, dare I say it, happy?"

Cato grunted, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it felt… slightly good to be part of an attempt to take out the Tributes. After all, they couldn't all win.

"Maybe a week," Glimmer started, "enough time to allow us to pick off a few tributes."

"What does the poison do?"

"It's a modified version of Tracker Jacker venom. They'll be dead within minutes, and those who don't, will be delusional, weak, in short, ripe pickings for us."

"What about the Capitol citizens who took it too?"

"As I said; no-one's innocent."

Cato looked into her eyes. "You're… evil, you do now that?"

Glimmer moved her face in closer. "That's sweet of you to say."

"How can you like that? Do you want to be horrible?"

Glimmer drew back slightly. "I'll have plenty of time to work on being good if I win these games. Until then, kindness gets you killed."

"I'm dead then."

Glimmer flashed her teeth at him. "Oh, no, no, Cato; you have me, remember?"

**Glimmer's desperate to win. Tell me what you thought of the clash between her and Cato's morals. Also, who was your favourite artist in the 'Wavin' Flag: Haiti Edition'? if you haven't heard it, type it in on Youtube.**

**Anyway, tell me what you thought of Woody's gambling, Peter and Marvel's dance off, and Cato and Glimmer's contrasting personalities. Please review!**


	12. 99 Problems But Crane Ain't One

**Thanks for all the great reviews guys! We're attracting more views thanks to you guys and you're writing which makes this look more prestigious. Perseus Attraction is coming soon, but its chapter is a bit… ropey, but I'll be there soon. Please review with anything you want and favourite or follow please! Thanks, and any of that can take two seconds!**

**Seneca Crane walked up the hill to President Snow, who was playing with his roses.**

"Ah, Seneca, how are the games going so far?"

Crane shrugged. "Well enough."

"I heard you gave young Peter a score of -2-"

"Ah, it was -3," Crane corrected with a smile.

Snow turned around. "Do you think that was kind? The poor boy."

"He deserved it," Crane stated with a shrug.

Snow sighed. "Yes, still. It's a bit sad."

Seneca tried to change the topic. "How's 'Merlin' going?"

Snow sighed again. "I'm a bit annoyed if I'm honest. Arthur didn't accept magic, and then Mordred came back to life. It was very upsetting."

Crane nodded. "So… the series is good?"

Snow nodded. "Do you know why we have 'Merlin' on TV?"

Crane shrugged. "No, I don't."

"I mean," he continued turning to Seneca, "if we wanted good TV we could just call in the writers of any good American TV show? It'd be a lot faster than waiting for a British man to bother?"

Crane made to speak, but couldn't. "I-, I don't know."

"4 series; too little series is frustrating, too many series is tedious. But a decent sized series is effective… too many episodes and you risk a loss of ratings."

Crane made a face. "Why are you telling me this? We're just a sub-plot. We don't need this crap."

"Surely you want more screen time?"

Crane looked down, trying to formulate his words. "Yes," he struggled, "but not with a tacked on scene."

"Do you like roses?"

He looked up, "Roses? I, I never thought about it."

"I don't," Snow told him.

Crane nodded. "Do you want to see the new tributes?"

Snow smiled. "Yes, after that disappointment in Merlin, I'd love too."

Crane didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but he led him to a corner in his garden where a TV and two chairs had been set up.

Crane turned to one of the Avoxes. "Is it working?"

The Avox made a sound.

"Speak up," Crane told him. When no answer was forthcoming, Crane sighed. Turning to President Snow, he spoke. "Just because we cut out their tongues, you'd think they wouldn't be able to speak!"

Snow nodded. "Quite."

They settled in their seats.

"I hope you made the jungle gyms harder this time," Snow told Crane.

"Of course."

"But not too hard. I'd hate for those poor kids to be hurt."

Crane nodded, knowing Snow didn't have a clue what the Hunger Games were about. He was usually too preoccupied with Merlin when they started. There had been that awful year when Merlin had aired late, but they had gotten through.

They watched as a specially edited showing of training began.

All the tributes looked happy in it, all the weapon training cut out, only showing them climbing ropes and swinging on monkey bars.

One tribute fell off the monkey bars, and hit the floor.

A blonde girl laughed at him, hitting the arm of the huge guy next to her as if he should be laughing too.

"She doesn't look very nice," Snow commented.

Crane was yanked out of his furious thoughts of bad editing by this.

"No, she's laughing at him good naturedly. They all are."

That big boy next to her-"

"Cato."

"Yes, Cato looks sick."

"Well, he's her best friend."

"Oh-"

"See," Crane pointed out the kid on the floor. "He's laughing."

"He looks like he's crying to me," Snow fretted.

"No," Crane laughed nervously. "He's laughing." Just then the bad voice dub made him laugh manically. "See?"

"Who is that girl?" Snow pointed at Glimmer, who was now on the floor, laughing as the tribute was carried away on a stretcher, Cato looking at her like she was slightly unhinged.

Crane cleared his throat. "Miss Glimmer. She's a… _interesting _girl."

They saw a clip of Peeta face painting a smiling Marvel (a staged scene).

"We promote team playing and painting," Crane said.

"What's going on here?" Snow asked.

Crane cursed the editors under his breath as Cato was caught crying.

"The poor boy," Snow sighed. "He was picked on for his weight, I suppose."

Crane did a double take, confirming that Cato was not fat, before frowning at Snow.

He sighed happily as Glimmer came up with a tissue, putting her hand on his back.

"_You okay?"_

"She doesn't look Indian," Snow said.

Crane cursed the terrible voice dubbers for giving Glimmer an Indian voice.

"_I'm okay, yo."_

Crane facepalmed as Cato sounded like a black guy. Thresh came on with a white guys voice just to rub in the inaccuracy.

It flicked to Clove, who was muttering something to Peeta Mellark, right in his face.

"_You want to play on the monkey bars with me?"_

Snow frowned as a man's voice came out of her mouth and Crane started to sweat. Who'd done the voiceovers this time! They needed to be sacked!

Peeta agreed, but then walked off.

"Why'd he walk off?" Snow asked.

Crane wanted to say that Clove had just told him she was going to kill him, but he couldn't do that, so he just let it slide.

Training finally finished and Crane handed over the files on each of the tributes. The main ones were the most changed:

_District One: Marvel_

"Oh, I do love him!" Snow gushed. That was great, as the rest of the file was pure crap.

_Loves talking about X-Men._

_Picks his own flowers._

_Enjoys cheese with his mates._

_Had super-powers._

Glimmer's was one of the most changed though.

_District One: Glimmer_

_Kind to all she meets._

_Loves to talk about dresses._

_Favourite colour is pink._

_Is opposed to violence._

_Has an unhealthy obsession with Cato._

That last line was true though.

They went on, calling Peeta a 'funny' guy and all, when in reality he was just weird.

"Are they going in today?" Snow asked.

Crane nodded. "Yes Snow, yes they are."

**Katniss walked up to Peeta, who was sitting by the window, singing softly:**

"_You stand in the line just to hit a new low  
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go_

You tell me your life's been way off line  
You're falling to pieces every time  
And I don't need no carrying on

'Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie-"

"Peter?" Katniss asked, amazed by the fact Peter was singing pretty well.

He looked around, startled. "Oh, hey. I heard we're going into the arena tomorrow."

Katniss frowned. "Not exactly unknown; all of Panem are watching for it."

Peeta nodded. "Yeah…"

Katniss sat down next to him. "Did you mean it about loving me?"

Peeta didn't look at her. "Sorta."

Katniss frowned. "Well… what do you mean, 'kinda'?"

Peter shrugged. "I mean, kinda."

Katniss stood up. "Hello? I'm the love of your life! You don't 'kinda' love me!"

Peeta looked at her. "Yeah I do. Come on Katniss, stop messing around; sit down."

Katniss sat down angrily. "So?"

Peter looked at her. "So what?"

"So what do you want to say?"

Peter frowned. "If you shut up for two seconds, maybe I could tell you."

Katniss shut her mouth.

"I just wish I could find a way to try beat the competition."

Katniss nodded. "Yeah."

"Hit those high vocals."

"Sure…"

"I really want to be given the chance to sing 'Chocolate'."

Katniss frowned. "Errr, Peeta-"

"Peter," he corrected.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?"

Peeta looked at her like she was being funny.

"Hello Katniss? I'm talking about what's happening tomorrow."

"Peter, we're getting sent to our deaths."

Peeta frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"The Panem Factor."

Katniss blanched. "Peeta, you're in the Hunger Games!"

He shook his head. "No I'm not. I volunteered to sing hoping I'd end up with you for the duets at the final. You can sing really well; I know you'll get there."

Katniss looked at him. "NO! You're not in a singing contest! Were you even listening to Effie?"

"No, I never do. Wait, you mean, I'm going to die!"

"Probably, yes!"

"No- but… no- I- can't stop-"

"Why do you think we were training with weapons?"

"I thought it was to keep us in shape!"

Woody came bounding around the corner. "Hey dickfaces! You're heading into the arena tomorrow and I'm going to give you some tips so you don't DIE in the BLOODBATH!"

Peeta went pale. "NO! I'll ESCAPE!" He ran, before Cinna and Effie appeared to restrain him.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO COMPETE! NO!"

Katniss and Woody watched as he was taken off.

"What's his deal?" Woody asked.

Katniss looked at where Peter had disappeared.

"Got a bit excited."

Woody nodded. "Happens."

**The next day, the day they were heading into the arena, Katniss sat eating breakfast with Woody.**

Cinna came up. "Peeta's, like, fine with the whole thing now. He's getting ready."

Katniss nodded.

"I never met someone so resilient," Woody commented.

Katniss nodded again, nerves reaching her stomach.

"Hey, you have a minute?" Cinna asked her.

She nodded, letting herself get taken to the side of the room.

Cinna put a hand on her shoulder. "Here, I like, have this for you. It's some, like, tacky crap I, like, got in my cereal this morning, but, like, you might like it, like."

Katniss took the pin with a stupid dead bird on it. She reflected glumly that this might be her soon.

Cinna looked at her. "Good luck, and don't listen to anything Woody says to you."

Katniss nodded. "Are you betting on me?"

Cinna laughed. "Nah, I'm, betting on that big Thresh kid- I mean, of course," he amended, seeing her hurt face.

She nodded again. It seemed like it was all she could do today.

Woody came up and took her arm. "Okay love, time to get you on a plane."

He led her to the lift, down, through corridors, towards the little plane place.

All the time, he was giving her 'advice'.

"Look, at the bloodbath, go, run up, get a weapon, and take down some suckers!"

"But I'll get killed."

Woody shrugged. "Get Peter to do it then."

Katniss just nodded. "Okay," she squeaked.

"Right, water is a no go. I had poisonous water in my one! I nearly died!"

"Woody, I've seen your games. That didn't happen."

Woody grumbled a 'good luck' before walking off moodily.

Katniss sighed and walked off to the waiting plane.

"**Finally! On our way! We'll kill them all Cato!"**

Cato sat, looking at where his tracker had been put in.

"Yeah…," he sighed.

Glimmer's face was alight, and she was twitching with excitement, her emerald eyes flashing, boring into Cato's.

"Okay Cato, you'll get a sword; that's what you're best at, and then we'll get the bow, and a couple of knives. The alliance should hold up, so we won't have to worry about the Careers until later."

Cato stopped her. "Wait, we're _still_ in an alliance?"

Glimmer nodded. "Yeah, didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"Well, we are. Don't look at me like that; it'll help us, I assure you." Glimmer smiled to herself. "I can get Katniss later, Miss Little Twirl."

Cato nodded, feeling slightly sick. "Right." He tested his previously dislocated arm which had been fixed by the medics, Glimmer giving the excuse that Cato had had a rowdy time at the Ball.

Glimmer sat back, smiling happily. "Come on, cheer up. We'll get backpacks of our choice!"

Cato's Glimmer-ised-eat-lots-dinner-to-put-on-weight-for-fight-with-Thresh seemed to be coming back up.

Glimmer leant in, looking so beautiful, her words making it al seem like a holiday.

"Imagine! We can get great backpacks, maybe with night vision glasses in them! Just hope you get some nice food; maybe some chocolate." He took Cato's face in her hand and held it up.

"Cato, if you get marshmallows and I get chocolate, you have to swear we'll combine them for the campfire. We can get some matches! Think of it as a holiday, Cato!"

Cato nodded. "In-between killing people."

"Yeah, well, but that's just a small part!"

Cato looked down again.

"Hey Cato… after we take the Cornupia, you get to choose _any _sword you want! Any one! You can have one with a nice hilt, or a short one!"

Cato looked up. "Aren't you more scared?"

Glimmer looked at him seriously. "No. I have you, don't I?"

Cato stared at Glimmer; the girl who was planning out how they were going to survive, who made an alliance for them, which must have been hard considering he was seen as a weak player; she was talking about what to put in their backpacks, she'd checked his clothes to make sure they were warm, even sighed that they weren't colour matched and vowed to take Clove's jacket later. Hell, she was even talking about what sword he could have, and Cato realised how grateful he was to her. She might seem bloodthirsty, but Cato knew she was how he was going to survive. He found himself grinning at her obsessive care for him.

"So, we can kill Clove, I'll take her jacket, and then we can be matching! Like District partners!

"Why?" Cato asked.

"Because we _want _to match, silly," she started to move onto another topic.

"No, I mean, why?"

Glimmer, who'd been talking about getting some hair gel for Cato from a sponsor, broke off.

"Pardon?"

"Why are you doing all this?"

She smiled again, displaying white teeth. "Well, that's obvious." She moved closer. "Believe it or not, you're the best friend I had so far. I'm yours and you're mine. We're not leaving each other, and if we're not doing that, then we might as well keep each other alive and enjoy doing it!"

Cato smiled. "Well, when you put it like that; deal on the marshmallows."

"Good man," Glimmer grinned. She laughed out loud, startling the other tributes, who were all huddled nervously.

"I hit you with coffee one day, and look at us now!"

Cato smiled, twisting his hands.

**They finally hit the ground, and were taken to the launch area.**

Katniss waited with everyone in along corridor, waiting for the sign to get in their pods and get sent off.

Everyone was doing something; talking, brooding. Katniss wondered where Peeta was. She saw Glimmer, who was checking something on her green jacket, and wondered where 'The Monster' was. She'd been happily talking to him on the plane and she figured they were a pretty solid alliance; and they didn't even come from the same District. That pissed her off. She wished she had a better partner.

**To fully understand and enjoy this scene, you need to play '99 Problems' by Jay-Z. I hate Rap music, but I'll admit, it's the perfect song for this bit. Listen to it, or lose out on the comic effect. Those who have seen 'The Inbetweeners' Series 3 trailer will understand this scene a whole lot more. The lyrics are a guide for what's going on, but you should only really use them to get where the song is while Peeta, Cato etc, do their respective montages. I suggest reading it, know what's going to happen, and then reading it with music, or building the scene with your head. Follow these instructions, or risk losing the awesome effect it will have for them entering the Arena.**

_**All was silent as the tributes waited to enter their pods that would take them into the Arena. Katniss looked around for Peeta, who still hadn't turned up. For that matter, Cato, Thresh or Marvel hadn't either.**_

"_if you're havin' girl problems I feel bad for you son,_

_I got 99 problems but the bitch ain't one."_

_**Music started up, which Katniss recognised as '99 Problems' by Jay-Z.**_

_**Then she saw them.**_

_I got the rap patrol on the gat patrol_

_**Peeta, Cato, Thresh and Marvel came round the corner, striding forward in their arena clothes, Peeta leading, Cato on his right, Marvel on his left, slightly behind, with Thresh at the back.**_

_Foes that wanna make sure my casket's closed_

_**They guys walked on slow mo, Peeta smiling smugly as they moved.**_

"_Rap critics that say he's "Money Cash Hoes"  
I'm from the hood stupid what type of facts are those_

_**Peeta nodded at Katniss, smiling, and she rolled her eyes, before joining onto their group.**  
If you grew up with holes in your zapatos  
You'd celebrate the minute you was having dough  
I'm like fuck critics you can kiss my whole asshole_

_**Cato saw Glimmer, and he waved at her stupidly, smiling. She smiled back, but Cato frowned and hid his face behind his hand, as she joined the group.**  
If you don't like my lyrics you can press fast forward_

_Got beef with radio if I don't play they show_

_**Marvel saw a group of girls playing with his trading cards, and he winked at them. They joined on with all his fans, all walking behind, keeping Peeta, Cato, Marvel and Thresh at the front of the group.**  
They don't play my hits well I don't give a shit SO  
Rap mags try and use my black ass  
So advertisers can give em more cash for ads...fuckers_

_**Thresh saw Clove with the rest of the Tributes; he pretended to cut his throat with his finger and they scurried to the back of the group.**  
I don't know what you take me as  
or understand the intelligence that Jay-Z has_

_**All the tributes were now walking towards the pods to take them to the arena in slow mo, Seneca Crane standing in front of them, his arms crossed.**  
I'm from rags to riches nigga I ain't dumb_

_**They split around Crane, to enter their pods, Peeta entering and turning to smile at Crane who looked angry.**_ _  
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one  
Hit me_

_**The glass closed around them.**_

_You're crazy for this one, Rick_

_It's your boy!_

_**The pods took them up as the music faded.**_

**Whether you got the full affect or not from the montage, they're finally in the arena. More Katniss/Peter is coming and there will be scenes of violence. Tell me what you thought of Glato and a bit of Keeta. BUT… please favourite or follow and it'll make my day, review above all else if you can (just put it one word if you want) and all that is below! VVVVVV Right there! VVVVV**


	13. Love And Sunset Packs

**Thanks for all the reviews. Okay, this chapter is far more action packed, so tell me what you think!**

**The tributes came up, looking around at the small field, the Cornupia in the middle.**

The countdown began, the tributes shivering with fear and, in some cases, *cough* Glimmer *cough* there was excitement. And some were just too stupid to understand how dangerous the situation was. *Cough* Peter *Cough*

The final ten seconds hit:

**Thresh **clenched his fist, looking around him. The other tributes were focused on the Cornupia besides The Baker who was staring at a tree.

Thresh licked his lips, looking at Cato, who was shivering, agitated. He smiled, before focusing on the weapons.

He caught the last seconds being count down and focused ahead.

The horn went, and Thresh took off, whipping across the grass.

He spotted the swords and altered his course towards them.

He looked to his side to see Cato catching up.

He was surprised; The Poet was really booking, heading straight for the weapons.

Thresh and Cato drew level, rubbing shoulders.

Thresh pushed Cato, and he pushed right back.

They were neck in neck, hurtling towards the weapons, the other tributes trailing behind.

They were metres away from the Cornupia when Thresh grabbed the back of Cato's jacket, spinning him around, and throwing him into a box of supplies.

Cato hit it straight on, winded, and Thresh dove at him, whipping his fist towards his face.

The Poet took it, spitting out blood, but he drove backwards, head-butting Thresh.

"Fucking asshole!"

Thresh reeled, before grabbing Cato's coat and lifting him, throwing him onto his back.

Cato let out a single breath, and Thresh wrapped his arms around his neck. He wrestled with him, seconds passing as 'The Monster' tried to stay alive, scrabbling at Thresh's arms.

"CLOVE!"

He looked over his shoulder at the cry, to see a slice of silver come whipping towards his face.

He jerked back, dodging it, before feeling a kick to his face, throwing him back.

It was too deadly now, with all the careers here now, so he ran through fighting tributes, ducking a blade and grabbing an evil looking sword. Hell, if he was going to be the bad guy, he might as well do it properly.

With his new sword he cut down a tribute, before picking up a black backpack and running for the trees.

Then something hard hit his side and he hit the ground.

**Peeta, no, Peter **heard the horn, and ran.

He was overtaking some tributes, completely forgetting the advice that he would suck in the bloodbath; why? Because he'd just seen a backpack… and it was in his favourite colour; Sunset Orange.

He had to get the pack.

He looked over on his left to see Cato and Thresh racing towards the Cornupia's weapons, neck-in-neck; he thought it looked pretty badass.

He got to the backpack, grasping it with his hands, as another set of hands reached it.

He looked up to see the ginger girl from District 5.

"Fuck off Baker!" She cried.

Peeta got right in her face. "No uh! I got here first Gingernut! It's mine!" He gave a tug, and being far stronger than her, wrenched it away, kicking her down for good measure.

He was feeling pretty good after his victory. He grinned, hefting the heavy bag, full of goodies, and ran forward.

He was sprinting for all his worth, glancing to see where Katniss was, catching a view of her running back and forth, as if unsure where to go.

He heard her shout 'Peeta' and made to run to her, before hitting a very solid shape, the two falling down in a heap.

Peeta shook his head, clearing the black spots, before looking at who he'd hit; Thresh.

He went pale as the latter looked at him, pulling his sword up.

Peter held the backpack up, the blade burying it in, before wrenching it free and running.

He heard Thresh's footsteps behind him, and he started crying; why him?! He'd thought he'd been about to take part in a singing show!

He felt his jacket grabbed, and readied himself for the blade, but suddenly it was gone.

He sprinted with all his might, jumping over a body and running through the trees.

**Katniss **stalled as the horn went off.

She watched the other tributes race off; Thresh instantly, Cato running with Glimmer's shouts, him catching up, neck-in-neck.

She looked at Peter, who was sprinting for an orange pack.

She ran forward, not sure if she should retreat or not. She saw Cato and Thresh wrestling, glanced at Peeta, who was kicking down a tribute, swinging the pack over his shoulder.

She saw Glimmer, her legs wrapped around a tribute's neck, flipping him over, before strangling him to death.

Clove was battling two tributes, dodging and weaving, before she saw Thresh, hurtling towards Peter.

Only one thing could grab his attention.

"PEETA!" His name; said wrong.

Peeta jerked around, ran for her and hit Thresh.

Katniss ran for a pack, looking at Peter, and tripped over.

She looked up to see Peter running from Thresh, the latter gaining, before a tribute threw herself at him.

Katniss tried to crawl, and grabbed a small backpack. She got to her feet, seeing Thresh running into the forest, the tribute dead behind him. She looked at the Cornupia, seeing Glimmer dodging a tribute's repeated knife swings. She hoped she died.

She bent down to check her laces, and looked up to see Clove, bloodied, wielding a knife.

She laughed. "Hey Clove! Gonna hit me from here?"

She saw the knife fly towards her. She ducked and ran, stumbling, before hitting the trees, forgetting that Clove could throw like a beast.

**Rue **heard the horn go and leapt up instantly, ripping off one of the heads of a tribute next to her. She growled, turning around to see the other competitors sprinting to the weapons.

She locked onto a tribute, jumping and biting out the back of his neck. She rolled with his dead body, throwing it aside, and looking across to the still running tributes.

She saw Clove, trying to pick out knives, and leapt for her.

She was hit by something mid-jump, and fell over, disorientated. She followed the path of the weapon and locked onto the District One girl.

She roared, about to attack, before seeing Thresh legging it. If he thought it was time to get away, she wouldn't do different.

**Clove **sprinted forward as fast as she could when she heard the horn.

Cato and Thresh were overtaking everyone, fighting for control, and Clove veered for the box of knives. All she needed was some throwing knives…

She pushed aside a tribute who got there first, reaching in and pulling out one. She heard a smash behind her, and turned around to see Rue running away.

"CLOVE!" She turned at the shout, seeing Glimmer, who was pointing at Cato desperately, who was being strangled by Thresh.

She remembered the alliance, the intense threat Thresh poised, and the fact Bubbles had just saved her life from Rue.

She flipped up a knife and threw it, before glancing around to see two tributes, armed, racing towards her.

She cursed, ducking a blade, and kicking the girl away.

She raised her knife, slashing at the male, but he caught her arm. She kicked at his kneecap, breaking it, before whipping up another knife and drawing it across his throat.

The girl cut at her; she didn't dodge in time and it opened the skin above her eye.

She jerked back and threw the knife, right into the girl's mouth, and pushed her away, looking around.

Glimmer was dodging a sword, and she tried not to hope she'd die too quickly; she wanted a go at her after all.

She saw Everdeen staring at her.

"Hey Clove! Gonna hit me from here?"

She threw the knife and Everdeen ducked, barely missing it before tearing off to the forest.

She sighed, looking around for more targets.

**Glimmer **clenched and unclenched her hands, tense as a wire, desperate to get in and get some weapons. She looked at Cato, who was looking slightly sick.

She tried to catch his eye, and smile, but he was in a world of his own.

The horn went, and she looked around at Cato, who was standing there, as the other tributes took off.

She ran to him, shouting.

"CATO! GET THE SWORD!"

It was the only thing that could keep him alive; his skill with a blade.

She knew she was risking her own life in not getting there sooner.

"THE SWORD! RUN CATO, RUN! GET TO THE SWORD!"

She grabbed his neck, screaming in his face. Cato jerked out of his daze, glancing at her, before taking off, running after Thresh.

She started sprinting as well. The Cornupia was 300 metres away, and she managed to overtake a few tributes on her way there, glancing at Cato was had reached Thresh and was now neck-in-neck with him.

Cato was thrown by Thresh into the side of a box.

"Cato!" Glimmer screamed.

Cato was trying to fight Thresh, but he was thrown and Thresh's hands wrapped around his throat.

Glimmer looked around desperately, crazed with desperation.

She saw Clove, reaching for throwing knives. She was the only person who could save Cato at this point, but Rue was fast approaching.

Glimmer ran up to a rack of axes, brutally tacking a tribute away, reaching for one, and picking it up.

She hurled it at Rue, having a stroke of luck and hitting her square on.

Clove turned at the sound.

"CLOVE!" Glimmer screamed, pointing desperately at Cato, who was still wrestling with Thresh, trying to avoid being killed.

Clove, mercifully, raised a knife and threw it, Glimmer looking around to see Thresh jerking away from the knife and Cato, the latter kicking at him, driving his foot into his face, throwing him off.

She looked around to see the girl from District 9, standing there, with a knife in hand.

Glimmer grinned savagely; today really was her day. She could kill the bitch who Cato had said was better than her, then he'd see who was _better._

She ran at the girl, the tribute slashing with her knife. Glimmer dodged it easily, pushing it aside, and bringing her elbow up and into her face. The District 9 girl was stunned and tried to back off, but Glimmer punched her stomach, before grabbing the back of her head and pushing it down into the spear rack. The spears, upright and ready to be used, went right through her skull, bursting out the other side. Glimmer jerked back from the blood, disgusted, but grinning with pleasure at her death, looked around, letting the girl spasm in peace.

She saw a boy grabbed a weapon, and fix his eyes on her.

She ran, picking up a balled weight (maybe for holding a tent down) and threw it at his stomach. He took it and doubled over, and she rushed in, grabbing his shoulder and jumping up, managing to wrap her legs around his bent over body, before flipping backwards, dragging him with her. They hit the ground badly, but she kept her legs around him and rolled around, his face to the ground. She wringed her face up in effort, cutting off his air, the boy started to scrabble now, desperate to get air.

She looked around, looking for anyone who might attack her, and saw Cato, crawling to the weapons, pulling himself up on them.

She looked up to see another tribute race towards her, a sword in hand, and slash down.

She let go of the now dead boy, and rolled backwards, the blade biting deep into the earth.

Glimmer sprung up, as the tribute pulled the sword out of the dirt and slashed at her.

She dodged each swing, getting in close on the 3rd one and driving her knee into the tributes stomach. He doubled over, dropping the weapon, but he lashed out, trying to punch her.

She caught his attack, and thanked God he was short, kicking at his throat, looking her foot there, and pulling his arm towards her, allowing her boot to drive deeper into his throat, cutting off his air.

She pushed him down slowly, pulling at his arm and pushing at his throat with her leg, controlling him until he was on the ground, lying on his back. She pushed her foot down with all the force she had, her hair falling in her face.

When the tribute was nearly dead, she brung her foot up and drove it into his throat, again and again and again.

"Glimmer!" she turned at the shocked voice, seeing Cato, sword in hand, staring at her in shock.

She made to respond, before seeing a tribute come up behind Cato, an axe in his hands. He brought it down, as Glimmer made a strangled scream.

**Cato **heard the number as if from the television. He remembered being back in his bedroom, hiding from the TV, the numbers in his brain, reciting poetry, trying to forget that kids were about to slaughter each other at that every second.

"Time brings hope, time brings fear  
Time brings distance, time draws near  
Time will help, time will hinder  
Time will shine, time turns to cinder  
We forget about time, yet it's all we would know  
In time, there is everything, and time will show," he muttered to himself.

He heard the unreal sound of a counter ticking down, and found sweat dripping down his face.

A horn went, but he didn't register it, feeling the ground rock under him from feet moving, hurrying away.

_Cato!_

He ignored the voice. It only caused him harm.

_Get the sword! Sword, sword, sword, sword!_

He remembered being given a sword by the trainer at District 2.

"_You look like a swordsman Cato…" _How he had nodded…

He felt a hand, smooth like marble, grasping his neck, the world collapsing like water as you rise from a pool.

"THE SWORD! RUN CATO, RUN! GET TO THE SWORD!"

He saw Glimmer, her hair all over her face, screaming at him.

He jerked out, setting his mind to one though:

Glimmer wanted him to get the sword. He had to get the sword.

He started sprinting. What had felt like hours in his head had only been seconds in the games.

He caught up with Thresh who was moving towards the blades. Thresh slammed into him, and Cato hit right back.

They were only 10 metres from the weapons, when he felt his coat grabbed, the red coat Glimmer liked, and was spun around, flying towards a box. He hit it stomach first, the air being driven out of his body.

He felt a fist hit his face, and he spat out blood.

"Cato!" He heard Glimmer's voice, and his desire for survival hit him. He drove backwards, hitting Thresh's body and whipping his head back, feeling contact as it hit Thresh's face.

"Fucking asshole!" He heard Thresh growl, before his coat was grabbed. His feet left the floor, and he hit the ground on his back, winded.

Thresh straddled him and wrapped his hands around his throat.

Cato grabbed them, trying to fight back, pushing at his face. His vision started to blur, red spots appearing on the sides… _there's a new tribute coming from District 2.._. He tried to jerk, struggling for breath_… Even Thresh is on edge… he's supposed to be vicious… _Cato felt the blood in his ears, Glimmer's voice soothing him into death… _You're Cato…? Don't be too charming, or you'll make me think twice about killing you…_

He heard a distant cry.

Thresh looked around at it, before jerking back from a slice of silver.

_I… I didn't think. It was survival instincts coming into play__…_Cato's training kicked in, and he drove his foot into Thresh's face, pushing him back.

He turned around and tried to crawl away, everything flashing… _You District 2…? _He tried to breathe, his lungs contracting… He looked over to see a girl with golden hair slamming a girl into a spear, the blade bursting through her head_… I'm looking forward to later! I get to kill people! Bones and blood… _He felt sick; his head was throbbing so badly… _And if we hit the same situation in the arena…?_He grabbed a rack, trying to pull himself up… _I won't take your life… _he looked at the blonde girl, who was suffocating a boy, grinning.

_District 1, I'm Glimmer… _that was her name… _Like a nail product…? _

"Glimmer," he chocked.

She looked around at him, her face showing conflicting emotions, but anger was present. Then it changed to pure shock.

She screamed and pointed, and Cato realised he was holding a sword. He saw an axe coming down, and he moved aside, acting naturally and bringing the sword down on the tributes head. The blade sunk all the way in.

…_I was always pretty good with a sword, but I don't like using it…_

His throat tightened, choking him as he stared down in shock as the boy writhed and fell down. Spots were still dancing, and he couldn't hold it in any longer.

He fell onto his hands and knees and wretched, trying to get up everything, all the pain and guilt. He heard voices muttering darkly…. _Look, __Cato, team up with the Careers. I promised your parents I'd keep you alive, but I can't do that if you continue to persist with this… friendship, with Miss Glimmer… _was that her voice?

He looked up, pale and shaking to see Glimmer by his side, arguing angrily with Clove, who was holding a knife, the other Careers and a few tributes behind her.

"He's pathetic!" Clove shouted. "We should just kill him and spare ourselves his weight!"

…_Well, during training I made an alliance with a couple of people-…_

Glimmer was on her feet, virtually spitting. "That was_ not_ the deal!"

"Yeah, but we didn't know he was this useless! You think Thresh is going to be scared of that!"

Glimmer's eyes were burning. "No-"

Clove raised the knife. "Glimmer, you're with us, or against us. Stay with us, leave him, or die together." She cocked her head, smiling. "And District 12 are called the star crossed lovers… shame no-one will know the story of District 1 and District 2. Now stop being stupid, and join us!"

Cato's head shook… _Like_ _leaving me to my death if it will save you…_

Glimmer seemed to struggle with herself, before reaching back, pulling up a bow, slotting an arrow, and bringing it up.

"Leave him, and we can stick to the deal."

Clove laughed. "You can't shoot a bow."

"I'd say the odds were in my favour from this distance," Glimmer retorted.

"If you kill me, the other tributes would take you," Clove responded.

Glimmer actually laughed. "What are we? Some sort of team? You really want to die for nothing? Give your friends more chance of winning? We're not the army, Clove. The Hunger Games are selfish; we don't work like that. Everyone for themselves and all."

Cato looked at Glimmer's face, which was set_… Why are you doing all this…?_

Glimmer glanced down at Cato.

…_I'm yours and you're mine. We're not leaving each other…_

Cato grasped his bloody sword, still in the tributes head, and staggered to his feet. Glimmer looked like she wanted to help him, but that would mean dropping her bow, and that was death.

Cato stood up to his full height and pulled the sword out of the tributes head, pointing at them.

"Go on then," he muttered.

Clove's face twisted, before settling into a scowl. "Equip yourselves lovers, we need to move."

Cato breathed heavily, his vision starting to return.

Glimmer looked up at him, before hitting his chest with the back of her hand lightly.

"Come on then, let's get some supplies. I promised you a sword."

Cato looked around at his victim. "I didn't…"

Glimmer looked around at him.

"He was going to kill you," she said dismissively.

Cato went up to the boy, no more than 15. He must have been desperate…

Cato turned away as bile threatened to ride again, and looked at Glimmer's kills.

"Nice," he muttered.

Glimmer looked around at them, before turning back to him, grinning.

"Yeah? Killed that bitch from District 9."

Cato didn't even remember who she was, but he looked back at Glimmer with a greater fear.

"I can't believe you did that."

Glimmer looked around at him, her face hardening. "I had-"

"No, not that. I mean, how did you do that?"

Glimmer's face flushed, but Cato still felt sick. He wasn't pleased with her kills, but he was amazed against his will.

Glimmer started pointing out her kills.

"This one," she walked up to the girl with her head impaled on a spear rack, "I almost laughed when I saw her." She knelt down, pulling the head up. "So lifeless… so useless," she grinned. "Just a sack of flesh in the end."

Cato walked up, dropping his bloody sword. "I wonder what her parents think?"

That subject didn't please Glimmer, whose face turned ugly, and he dropped the head, walking to a weapon rack.

"I expect they were anticipating it," she snarled. She took at knife up and gripped it with her hand, her knuckles turning white. "Hoping even…"

Cato knew she was talking about her own childhood now.

"What's wrong with your parents?"

Glimmer looked around at him, her face far removed from its usual beauty.

"They're parents. Just like anyone else's."

Cato decided to keep the peace as Glimmer went up to a pack.

"Let's get brown ones. Camouflage colour would be better. I don't know what colour this is."

Cato made his way over to the weapons. He wasn't going to kill again. The boy was still haunting him… but he was going to protect Glimmer. She'd exceeded expectations. She'd put her life on the line for him, and he wasn't going to let her die.

He picked up a silver sword of average length, double edged, elegant in a simple way. He took the black belt, and found the right scabbard, attaching it.

"Nice sword," Glimmer's voice came from behind him. "Don't want your other one?"

Cato looked at the sword which was proof of his violence.

"Never," he hissed.

Glimmer just nodded and held out a knife. "Here, this'll suit you."

He attached the long knife, which Glimmer was right in saying it was good for him, and put on the belt.

Glimmer handed him a backpack with a spear attached.

"Food, sleeping bags, even a tent; got everything in there."

Cato hoisted it on, feeling prepared. "Even chocolate and marshmallows."

Glimmer grinned. "Even those."

She was carrying a much smaller pack, but Cato knew it was just as well equipped. He was just carrying more in bulk. Her bow and arrows were attached to the pack, and she had two long knives attached to her legs.

"No spear?" Cato asked.

Glimmer shook her head. "No, I'm no good with them. Knives are my thing, and I've got these." She held up her hands, which were in tight black gloves with sliver backing.

"What are those?" Cato asked.

Glimmer smiled, handing him a pair. "They'll deflect swords for sure. High grade Capitol tech. You can now block and you don't have to worry about your hands getting cut. They're grippy too."

Cato pulled on his, which were quite snug, but felt very flexible. "Nice."

"Don't I know it," Glimmer grinned, pushing back her hair, bound on either side.

"Come on," Clove called. "We're hunting. We think Mellark went this way."

She saw Glimmer and Cato's gloves and scowled at the sign of obvious unity.

"Let's go," she muttered, leading the way.

Glimmer and Cato followed, the latter staring back with a lump in his throat at the boy he had killed.

**Please tell me what you thought of it! Cato's flashback thoughts (spent ages trying to get those from other chapters) his fight with Thresh, Peter's backpack, but please tell me what you thought of Glimmer doing what no-one thought she'd do and put her love for Cato before herself! Or none of that! Its your choice and any review is good! Review please as it keeps me going! I love tp hear from you, even if its' just a single word!**


	14. Katniss Sits In A Tree

**I'm adding some more Keeta, so that's all great. Hope you enjoy the Careers and their jokes and the Glato. Also, I know the jokes at the end are crap, but you can get the point of why they're there and just pretend they're funny. You'll get the context. Please review and thank you to all those who did! All you need to put in is a 'lol' or a 'crap' etc.!**

**Cato and Glimmer trudged after the other Careers and a few other tributes.**

"Why are we carrying packs, and the others have only small bags?" Cato asked.

"The poison will hit soon. I don't want to go back," she stated darkly as the cannons fired.

**Katniss looked around, sure she'd heard something.**

Deciding it was nothing, she went on, looking for water.

"I hate this bit," Katniss sighed, as she slowly died of dehydration.

Luckily for her, the writer decided this couldn't be every funny, so she found some water. She opened her pack, hoping for some sort of flask.

She pulled out a 'Captain Marvel' pack of trading cards.

"What the hell are these for?" She muttered. She threw them in the pond.

She pulled out a spoon. She delved in again, pulling out some sunglasses as it started to drizzle. She growled, puling out a handkerchief and scowling.

"This pack is fucking useless," she muttered.

She reached in and pulled out a shirt two sizes too small. Then she reached in and pulled out a car sticker. It read:

_Lol, you got the rubbish pack!_

She gaped, reaching in and puling out another.

_My other friend is a Career._

She shouted out angrily, hating that she'd almost died getting this useless crappy pack.

Night started to come in so she scuttled up a tree, hoping she didn't fall down and die.

She wrapped herself in with the hankie, and looked down.

Some dumbass has started a fire.

Katniss cupped her hands to her mouth:

"Put that thing out! We'll be seen!"

The tribute stumbled through the brush and glared in her direction.

"Shut up! Just because you can't make a fire! And be quiet or else we'll be heard!"

"You're so dead!" Katniss cried.

"No uh! You're dead!"

"I'm invisible!" Katniss laughed.

The girl grunted and went back to her fire. Katniss chuckled to herself, knowing she'd attracted all the Careers. That girl won't last a _second_ longer.

She was still chuckling when she heard cracking. She looked around to see an orange glow. What was that?

Katniss leaned in closer, trying to make it out. It was a… was that a backpack? An orange backpack, glowing like a sunset…

Peter 'Bread' Mellark came striding out of the forest, grinning, holding the straps of his backpack, and looking around. He spotted the fire and made towards it.

"Peter!" Katniss hissed.

Peeta jerked up, looking around. Katniss waved at him from the tree.

He smiled. "Hey Katniss!" he almost shouted.

Katniss pushed her hands down in a 'keep it down' way.

He nodded, still grinning. "How are you?" he whispered.

Katniss didn't answer, but pointed at his pack. "It's glowing! Get rid of it!"

Peeta shook his head like she was silly. "Nah, it's my favourite colour. Besides, I'm camouflaged!"

Katniss waved with exasperation as Peter pointed at some paint over his eye.

"How come I could see you then?" Katniss hissed.

Peter frowned. "Well I don't know, now." He perked up. "Oh well! I'm keeping my pack!" He held the straps before walking to the fire.

Katniss bit her lip. Peter was going to die, very soon. She sighed and thought that it might improve her chances. Maybe he'd be a good tribute and kill some before he died.

**Peter came through the brush, scaring the tribute with the fire out of her wits.**

She leapt up with a stick, swinging it at Peter's head.

Peter dodged deftly, and before swinging his pack around and hitting her.

"Calm down ladies, I just want to share your fire."

The tribute didn't breathe. "Who are you?"

"Peter Mellark, but most call me The Baker," he said, holding out his hand.

The girl looked at his hand. "You're Minus Mellark?"

Peeta frowned. "I didn't know I had that name too. But yes, I guess so."

"What good will you do if we're attacked. You got a _minus!"_

Peter pointed at her. "I decked you."

The girl thought about it, before shrugging. "Fair enough."

**Cato cut down a thick branch savagely with his sword, before turning back, dropping it and lifting Glimmer over the dip in the path.**

Glimmer smiled as he deposited her on the other side.

"How chivalrous."

"It's not dead, you just need to ask for it," Cato grinned, sheathing his sword and hopping over the ditch.

Glimmer laughed, turning back to the other Careers.

"How long are we going on for? I think Cato's getting tired," she called to Clove up ahead.

Clove turned around. "We all saw Mellark's stupid glowing backpack. We're going to kill him before turning in."

Glimmer nodded. "Got it."

Cato pushed a branch out of her way, before leaning in and muttering.

"You didn't need to tell them I'm tired. I look weak enough."

Glimmer bumped him with her hip playfully. "I bet that's what the tribute at the Cornupia thought too."

Cato swallowed as his throat constricted. "Yeah-"

She turned to him. "We're all human, Cato."

"I don't want to be an excuse," he mumbled.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "Is that it? Okay," she cupped her hands. "Clove, I'm really tired!"

Clove turned to her irritably. "Well why don't you just lie down in that ditch and die then?"

"Okay girlfriend," Glimmer smiled. "Nice you have my back!"

Cato chuckled, before running into the back of a tribute that'd abruptly stopped.

Marvel cocked his ear. "Do you hear that?"

Clove grunted in agreement. "Yeah, but first, I need to talk to you all."

The tributes gathered around.

Clove frowned. "Right, we're moving into canocity zone now. We have to be careful."

"What's wrong with Canon?" Glimmer asked.

Clove grinned. "Well, you're killed by Katniss, so that's _one_, but more importantly is the line dish-outs."

Marvel scowled. "What are you saying?"

"Look, in the film and the book, Cato is the only _real _person with flowing dialogue, right?"

The tributes looked confused.

"You've all read the book, right?" Clove asked.

Glimmer shifted. "Not really my thing."

Marvel shrugged. "I read the last chapter."

Cato scratched his head. "There's a book?"

Clove nodded, pushing it aside. "Well, that's okay, because it's almost exactly like the film." They shifted again, fake smiles on their faces.

Clove frowned, trying to smile. "You all watched the movie, right?"

"I don't watch things, people watch me," Glimmer stated offhand.

Cato grinned. "I saw this! With the rabbit?"

Marvel laughed. "That's 'The Magic Roundabout', you silly wanker."

"Oh, so you watched it then?" Cato flared.

Marvel's smile slide. "Well, no."

Clove gaped at them. "None of you saw the movie? But it had Liam Hemsworth in, and he's hot?"

"Eh," Glimmer shrugged.

Clove scowled. "Oh, so he's not hot now, is he?"

Glimmer looked up, "well, I'm more of an Alexander fan myself."

Cato perked up. "Hey, that's the guy who played me!"

Glimmer smiled at him, moving really close. "Exactly," she purred.

Clove stamped the ground. "Whatever! It doesn't matter if you've been fucking lazy and haven't seen your roots, because I have. I'll tell you." They all moved back in. "Okay, long story short, Cato-"

"He is so hot," one of the female tributes gushed.

Clove waved her hands around. "Yeah, yeah, we all want to do Ludwig. Now, as I was saying, in the book and the film, Cato is the only one who gets lines! Sure, Glitter over here gets some before she's killed, and I have a page when I'm about to chop up Katniss," she scowled, still sour about her death, "but Marvel, you get one line!"

Marvel looked shocked. "What?"

Cato pushed forward. "Yeah, but none of that matters now!"

Marvel turned to face Cato. "You would say that, Mr. Lines-Forever!"

Cato drew himself up, but Marvel didn't back down.

Clove was shouting now. "Look, we all need to try and fight the lines! ALL try to say something, besides you unnamed tributes. No-one cares about you," she added. "DON'T let Cato have all the lines! As we get closer to the actual story, you will feel a need to stay silent! DON'T, say something."

They all nodded in agreement.

Marvel backed off from Cato. "You're still in hot water Lauriat."

Cato let his hand slide off his sword hilt, but Marvel saw. He grinned:

"Going to fight me Cato?" He reached for his spear.

Cato scowled. "By the time you manage to get that spear out, I'll have already slit your throat with a drawing slash."

"You won't kill," Marvel sneered, before making retching sounds, much to the other Careers laughter.

Cato inclined his head. "I don't like killing, doesn't mean I'm not capable."

Marvel turned away, bored but still smiling.

Glimmer let her knife drop, letting her breath out. "Close."

They all started moving on, Glimmer sticking next to Cato, their arms bumping regularly.

They followed the sound of music and started creeping towards flames flickering in the tree line.

**Katniss sat up, watching as the Careers closed in, all heavily armed. No backpack trick was going to save Peter Bread this time.**

Katniss wished she had a bow; then she could try to help. But until then, she was bound by survival instinct.

She fixed her eyes on Clove and another tribute, who, with weapons drawn, seemed to be communicating with the rest of the Careers.

"Peeta," Katniss muttered.

**Peter had turned on music and was stunning the girl with his mad skills.**

_I feel so close to you right now_

_**Girl claps**_

_It's a force field. I wear my heart upon my sleeve, like a big deal_

_**Girl claps**_

_Your love pours down on me, surrounds me like a waterfall_

_**Girl claps**_

_And there's no stopping us right now_

_**Girl claps**_

_I feel so close to you right now_

Peter body popped, foot shuffling before leaning back on his heels, clapping to the music. He spun, coming up straight.

"You're incredible," the girl said.

Peeta shrugged. "Not enough to get the girl of my dreams.

**Glimmer and Cato were crouching behind a tree, ready to destroy the two voices.**

"Jesus, this is like a soap opera," Glimmer muttered in response to Peeta's confession of unrequited love. "He should be glad we're here to kill him."

Cato shuffled awkwardly, "whatever you say."

Clove gave them the thumbs up, and Glimmer burst from the bush, Cato trailing behind her.

Clove looked confused as she saw the scene, where a stunned girl was sitting by a fire, but Peter was… gone.

Glimmer looked around, confused as Marvel took a cue from Clove to get some lines in.

He stepped forward, and made to speak, but his voice caught. He managed to choke out:

"Evening! Ho- how are- faring!?" He clutched his throat, trying to fight against the lines that should be Cato's.

Clove pushed him aside, Glimmer moving to her side as they approached the girl, who hurried away, right into a Career standing on her other side.

"Don't worry," Clove cooed. "We just want to talk."

"For now," Glimmer grinned.

Cato moved up. "Guys, back off, you-"

"Back," Clove glared at him.

Cato backed up quickly.

Clove turned back to the girl. "We were under the impression you had company."

"Male company," Glimmer elaborated. She saw the girl's expression and laughed. "Oh, no, not _that_ type of company, but maybe someone asked to join you with your fire?"

"He was here," the girl spluttered. "He's… he- he's gone."

Clove turned to Glimmer. "We're wasting our time."

Glimmer nodded. "Let's just kill her."

Clove jumped up, pointing at Cato. "Monster, use your sword and take her out."

Cato backed off some more. "Why me?"

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "So silly," she told the other tributes, before approaching Cato.

She looked evil with the firelight making her features appear demonic.

"Do it quickly. No weakness."

"Why?" Cato pleaded.

"The sword is the better weapon. What if she has a knife? You can keep her away."

Clove came up behind them. "The Monster won't do it. Pussy."

Marvel looked over at the girl, who had just tried to flee.

"Stop!" Marvel cried. The girl was recoiled as a tree branch caught alight, blocking her path.

Glimmer blinked. "That's not possible. Marvel doesn't have any powers."

The girl was crying on the floor now.

Clove gave her a disgusted look. "I'll do it." She drew a knife and walked forward.

Cato pushed past Glimmer and grabbed Clove's hand. She looked around at him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Cato's anger left and he saw himself surrounded. It was him or the tribute…

Cato turned back to her. "Glimmer should do it."

"Why?" Clove hissed.

Cato blinked. "Erm, she's the cleanest killer. She barely spilt blood in the bloodbath. No blood, no way we can be tracked."

"Who could take us down?" Clove asked.

"Thresh," Cato stated.

He let it hang, but it was clear that not even six Careers wanted to tangle with Thresh.

Clove let her arm drop. "Whatever, just do it quickly."

Cato moved back to Glimmer, drawing his sword. "Take my sword," he said miserably.

Glimmer took it from him. "Why?"

"You look pretty when you kill," Cato muttered. Beautiful, but also disturbing.

Glimmer smiled, walking up to the tribute. She held the sword awkwardly, the weight being too much, but she could easily use it to kill the helpless tribute.

The girl lost her head and tried to run, but the two other Careers grabbed her and held her still.

Glimmer sighed angrily, before driving the sword through the girl's chest. She drew it out, looking distasteful as the blood spewed. She walked back up to Cato, a sly smile appearing and gave his sword back to him, before circling him, her hand brushing his shoulder lightly.

She appeared on his other side. "Dead," she said simply. Her hand was up at Cato's neck now, and he had lost the conversation.

Cato was very aware of the extra contact; was it sexy or something to get your potential girlfriend to kill someone? What happened if he killed someone? Would she have an orgasm or something?

Clove frowned. "We lost Mellark, but at least she's dead." The cannon went off to confirm this. "We'll camp a past that tree. Let the body get collected."

They all started to move off, before Marvel spotted what appeared to be a huge orange flower.

**Katniss had watched the whole sick affair. She hoped Peeta never found it sexy to get her to kill someone. **

She watched as Marvel made his way up to a pack… wait, that was Peter, hidden in a bush, his backpack sticking out. She saw his sweating face as Marvel approached.

"Is this a pack?" Marvel asked, opening the zip. He frowned, turning around. "GUYS! I found some sort of backpack here!"

"Spons-" Clove was cut short as she hit her lines for the day.

"Sponsors?" Cato asked.

Marvel shrugged, feeling no need to talk or for his name to even be discovered in this book.

They started opening it, Peeta (hidden in the bush) crying silently.

"Look at this!"

They started pulling out stuff.

"He has full body armour!"

"Is this a portable bow?"

"Wow, a crossbow!"

"Look, microwave food! Wait… it comes with a microwave! Cool!"

"Sheaths for all your weapons!"

"This square can turn into a bed apparently!"

"Look rare mint edition Captain Marvel collectible cards!"

"Are these special boots!"

Katniss raised her eyebrows as Peter's pack was rifled through, and he had hit the jackpot. He had chosen a pack purely on it being his favourite colour, and even though it glowed like a bitch, it had stuff that not even sponsors could give you! It was well worth near death by Thresh's hands for! Katniss thought ruefully back to that green pack. It could have been hers…

"Hey, juice boxes!"

Peter finally snapped at that. "Those are mine!" He leapt up. "Move off!"

The Careers all drew their weapons. "Kill him!"

Peeta held up his hands. "Whoa, wait!"

The Careers paused.

Peter looked at them all, breathing heavily. "Give me a dying man's request!"

Katniss held her breath, scared for Peter's life. "You can't die…," she muttered. Not the boy who had sold his kidney for the Waterloo Road Box Set.

Peter looked at all of them. "I know a magic trick." The Careers looked intrigued. Peter licked his lips. "I can disappear."

"Bullshit," Marvel stated. "He's trying to buy time for himself."

He moved forward:

"Ah, ah, wait!" Peter cried, holding out his hands. "You'll never see the _trick_! This will be the only good thing you see in here before you all die!"

They paused again.

"Okay, how about," Peter bargained. "I can't do magic," the moved in, "but I can make jokes!"

They Careers stopped again. "A giggle before you go to bed!" Peter gasped.

The Careers muttered together: "Okay, go on," Clove said.

"Okay, Three tributes, stranded in the arena, find a magic lantern containing a genie, who grants them each one wish. The first guy wishes he was out of the games and back home. The second guy wishes the same. The third guy says "I'm lonely. I wish my friends were back here.""

The Careers laughed, and Katniss even giggled.

Peeta looked at them, "Yeah? Okay, how about: Glimmer says to Cato: 'You always carry my photo in your handbag to the office. Why?' and Cato says: 'When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears.' So Glimmer says: You see how miraculous I am for you?' And Cato shrugs: Yes, I see your picture, and I think, what problem can be greater than this?"

The Careers laughed and Peter smiled. "We like the Glato jokes, huh?" he noted softly. He looked at Glimmer. "You're looking special tonight, by the way."

Glimmer smiled and waved him away.

Peter started pacing, nodding. "I didn't think my eyes could take any more pain, but there you go."

Katniss snorted as the Careers laughed again.

Peeta held up a hand. "Sorry Glimmer, really, you are looking truly fantastic tonight. "Beautiful," he elaborated. "Not you," he added to Cato to chuckles.

Peter nodded. "It's funny when people discuss 'love marriage' and 'arranged marriage'. It's like asking a guy if he would like to 'hang himself', or 'shoot himself'."

Katniss shook her head and shouted. "No good!"

Peeta waved her away. "That's my wife. Now you see what I mean! Have any of you got a significant other? I have a girlfriend, been with her for over a year now! So, we both want to move forward and we finally came to the conclusion, that we were ready to have sex that night. So, we're both at the reaping, and we're thinking that if we aren't picked, we'll do it that night. No hitch, her name doesn't appear, and mine doesn't either, so we're all good. But when I look up at the stage, I se her there. And her name wasn't called. So the only conclusion I could come to, was that she fucking volunteered!

Katniss nearly fell out of her tree as the Careers fell over themselves.

Peter scratched his nose. "I know, she obviously didn't want to have it with me. Another funny story," Peeta started again. "I've got anew girlfriend. She's great. The best. But one day, I invite my Mum around, right? You can all relate to this. Okay, so I invited my mother for dinner. During the course of the meal his mother couldn't help but notice how lovely my flat mate, Katniss, was.  
She had long been suspicious of a relationship between us and this only made her more curious.  
Over the course of the evening, while watching us interact, she started to wonder if there was more between me and my flat mate than met the eye.  
Reading my mum's thoughts, I volunteered, 'I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Katniss and I are just flat mates'.  
About a week later Katniss came to me saying, 'Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the frying pan. You don't suppose she took it do you?'  
'Well I doubt it, but I'll e-mail her just to be sure,' I said.  
So I sat down and wrote,  
DEAR MOTHER,

I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU 'DID' TAKE THE FRYING PAN FROM MY HOUSE. I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU 'DID NOT' TAKE THE FRYING PAN, BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IT HAS BEEN MISSING EVER SINCE YOU WERE HERE FOR DINNER.

LOVE,

PETER.  
Several days later, I received an email from my mother which read,

DEAR PEETA, (damn woman always gets my name wrong!)

I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU 'DO' SLEEP WITH KATNISS, AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU 'DO NOT' SLEEP WITH KATNISS, BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT IF SHE WAS SLEEPING IN HER OWN BED SHE WOULD HAVE FOUND THE FRYING PAN BY NOW.

LOVE,

MUM

Katniss laughed so hard she nearly fell right out of her tree and the Careers were ready to go into hysterics: Peeta just needed one more thing…

"I heard that people cry when I open my mouth… It can't be my jokes, no, maybe it's my teeth?"

The Careers collapsed and Peter shot off into the forest as Katniss smiled happily.

"That's my partner," she said happily.

The Careers had noticed that he'd shot off and they started chasing him, charging through the forest, and as the sounds of crashing faded she thought:

_Peter just led the Careers away…_

Why? She frowned as she thought Peeta's declaration of love may have weight.

**Yeah, Peter's jokes were bad, but you get the point! Hope you liked his stupid backpack and Clove's paranoia! Please review as it's all I get for writing this!**


	15. Peter Gets Stuck In A Tree

**Right, hope you enjoy this chapter! I know loads more people read, than review, so could you please give this a Follow or a Favourite if you like it, and please, please review! You'd make my day, and it'd make the story look better so more people will read it. Besides that though, just enjoy!**

**Seneca Crane watched as Katniss walked forward on the little map.**

"Hmmm, she's getting close to the edge of the Arena… can you do something about that?"

One of the people in white clothes nodded. "Yup, this will stop her." She pressed a button and expanded it with her hand to cover the whole Arena.

**Katniss trudged on, looking up as the sky turned black.**

It was the 3rd day in the Arena by her counting: She thought 15 tributes were still alive. 9 were dead. She knew this was wrong to the book, but we'll overlook that. We need those tributes.

It started raining, drenching her through as she continued to walk forward.

"I hate rain," she muttered, thankful it wasn't worse.

**In the Careers camp, it was a different story.**

Glimmer looked up, scared. "Is that _rain?"_

Cato looked up, nodding. "Yeah, I'm afraid so."

Clove started twitching. "No, please-," the heavens broke. Rain started coming down ominously.

Glimmer stood up quickly. "We need shelter! Cato, get that tent out!"

Cato pulled off his pack and pulled out the tent. "Why!?" he shouted.

Clove looked at him like he was mad. "Hello! Our hair will be ruined!"

Cato frowned. "Wha-"

Glimmer knelt down in front of him urgently.

"Not much time, Cato dear, you know what happens to hair when rain falls?"

"It-"

"It gets wet," she said quickly. "Curly hair, or your gel is washed out-"

"My hair goes frizzy!" Clove shouted as if she'd just been stabbed.

Cato frowned. "But that's-"

"Pack the tent away," Glimmer snapped. "We need cover!"

The rain started falling. "SAVE YOURSELF!" Clove shouted, running off with Marvel.

"MOVE!" Glimmer shouted, tearing after them, Cato hot on her heels. The two other Careers from District 4 were drenched and started spasming out of control as their hair went wild.

Cato heard Cannon shots as the two tributes killed themselves out of shame.

"We should save them!" Cato shouted through the rain.

Glimmer was sprinting full out, jumping over roots and ducking branches and didn't bother to answer Cato.

They caught up to Marvel and Clove who were heading for a cave. Jets of water started coming out of the trees but they only had a straight sprint of 500 metres to a cave mouth.

Glimmer started to catch up with Clove, adrenaline and extra leg length aiding her as Cato matched her pace, bringing up the rear.

Marvel was ahead of them though, tearing across the ground, already drenched, his hood filled with water. Cato watched as a jet of water came flying out of the tree line.

"MARVEL!" He shouted.

Marvel looked around to be hit by the jet, right on his shoulder, being thrown over by the force onto his back.

Glimmer tore right past, diving into the cave and trying to wring her hair out frantically.

Clove jumped Marvel and slammed into the cave mouth, before trying to start a fire.

Cato heard them as he looked back at Marvel, moaning as the rain drenched him.

"We need to save him!" Cato cried.

Glimmer looked up, her eyes burning. "No! I say no! You're hair is losing it's gel as we speak! Do not rescue-"

Cato ran back out into the rain, grabbing Marvel's arm.

"Come on," Cato cried.

"We can't make it," Marvel slurred. "Save your own style."

Cato gritted his teeth and lifted Marvel onto his back, running to the cave.

"He won't make it!" Clove shouted.

Cato's hair was falling over his face, all gel gone, just ready to curl now. He staggered into the cave, dropping Marvel and taking the towel Glimmer thrust into his hands.

He looked at the fire. "Good idea."

Clove put her head next to it, brushing her hair.

"What are you doing?" Cato asked.

Glimmer gave him a withering look. "She's trying to save her hair."

Cato watched as both girls started trying to straighten their hair, Marvel moaning as his head slowly caught alight.

"Marvel's on fire," Glimmer noticed.

"You save him," Clove muttered, trying to brush her hair.

Cato took his towel and put Marvel out, running his hands through his hair.

"The deadliest thing the Gamemakers could think off," Clove muttered. "Ruining our hair. Giving us-," she choked, unable to continue.

"Tight curls," Glimmer finished.

**Peter strode through the forest, looking up at the sky, which was turning black.**

He touched his perfectly styled hair, and took off his pack nervously, pulling out his inflata-tent.

He put it down and started it up.

"This won't take long," he told himself happily.

He shivered as drops started up. He picked up the instructions, having been a typical male, and having not read it.

_You're Inflata-Tent will help keep any rain off your hair!_

Peeta nodded happily.

_Once you start it up, you'll only have to wait 20-25 minutes for it to start expanding._

Peter's eyes jerked open.

"I don't have twenty to twenty-five minutes!" He told it desperately.

It started to rain, and Peeta panicked. If he could just find shelter… he picked up his tent, and shoved it in his bag, running off into the forest as it started pouring down.

He ran between trees, trying to find a cave, looking around. He jumped off a ridge, rolling and vaulting a tree, pushing his way through leaves. The rain was falling heavily.

**Effie, Cinna and Woody watched in horror as rain fell, drenching the tributes.**

"This is sick," Cinna muttered. "I can't believe this."

"Their hair is being ruined!" Effie cried. "How will sponsors send them stuff if they look like Craig Campbell!"

Woody scowled as Peeta ran through the forest.

**Peter saw a cave mouth.**

He needed to get there before it was killed by the rain, he needed to. He ran through the forest, jumping between two trees.

Suddenly he stopped, not being able to fit through. He turned around to see his backpack expanding.

What was that…?

He saw the tag of the Inflata-Tent sticking out and remembered he hadn't stopped it! He'd let it go on and make his backpack too big!

"ARRGHHH!"

**Woody stood up.**

"This is sick and I'm going to stop it," he said, making for the door.

He walked through the building and out into the Capitol, striding over to the huge Gamemakers building. He walked into the lobby.

"I need to see Crane," Woody told the receptionist.

She led him over to the lift and he pressed the button for the control room. The doors opened after a minute and he walked out, taking the steps at a pace and walking up to Seneca Crane who was watching the tributes.

"Crane! You need to stop this!"

Crane turned around. "Woody! How are you?"

"Not well, considering my tributes are being killed."

Crane shook his head. "No, Katniss is fine. She's taking the rain like a man. She mustn't care about the rain."

"Peter is trapped in a tree!" Woody protested.

Crane nodded. "Yes, but understand I was trying to Kill Miss Glimmer, not Peeta."

Woody frowned. "Why?"

"She's a bad influence to Cato," Crane muttered. "I promised to look after him. His parents are old friends, you see."

Woody waved his hands. "Old friends my ass! Who cares! Stop it!"

Crane shrugged. "We're just going to have to hope he survives…"

**Peter hung from the tree, crying as his hair was soaked past recognition.**

"I want out!" He whined. "Just kill meeeee!"

Foxface darted through the trees, and glanced at Peeta, stopping.

"Hey, you're the guy who stole my pack!" She grinned as she saw him, trapped in the tree. "Not going well for you!"

Peter looked at her. "Come on Gingernut, you can help me! I have a hairdryer in my bag! We can fix each others hair!"

Gingernut frowned. "I could just take it…" she smiled, making her way over.

"No, you don't get it!" Peeta cried as she started going through his pack. "Stop!"

She laughed as she held up the hairdryer. She looked up at Peter, smiling.

"I can't believe you…" she said wonderingly.

"Katniss will get you!" Peter threatened as Gingernut drew a knife from the bag and held it out.

Gingernut laughed. "Yeah? Why would she do that?"

"Because we're in love."

She shook her head. "No, you're in love and she despises you. Get with the picture, everyone in the Capitol knows it."

**Everyone watching in the Capitol sighed and cried as Peeta's face dropped.**

"That's so upsetting," one cried, clad in her KatnissxPeeta T-Shirt.

"**No."**

"Yes," Katniss said. Peter blinked. He was hallucinating. Was it Katniss talking to him, or was it Gingernut?

"I never loved you and I never will! You need to grow up Peter and stop hounding after me."

Peter felt tears trace his cheeks. "No, you don't mean that."

Gingernut came back into view. "Yes, I do." She held up the knife. "I'm going to kill you, then I hope Katniss is killed by the Careers. But," she moved in closer, "if they don't get her, I will, the stupid bitch-"

Peter started pulling at the pack, straining to get at her.

She moved back. "Give up Mellark. You're strong, but you're not that strong."

Peeta strained, ripping at his pack, his whole being focused on Foxface.

She backed off nervously. "Stop that."

Peter heard the first strap start to rip.

"No, stop it! STOP IT!" Foxface moved in with the knife.

Peter ripped the pack clean off, and dove at her, colliding, the two rolling down a hill. They hit the bottom and Peter leapt up, dodging Foxface's wild knife swing and grabbing her hand, throwing her into a tree. He grabbed her again and lifted her up, drawing back his fist.

Suddenly the trees were filed with voices.

"I heard some over here, two voices!" A confident, refined voice, female, echoed through the trees.

"Over there!" Cried another female voice, more excited with a younger edge to it.

"Just leave it," an exasperated voice came out, deep with an arrogantly confident quality to it. "We don't have to kill someone everyday.

"I think I shat my pants," another voice said, but since we've never heard his voice in the films because he has no lines, we can't give a description of his voice.

Peter dropped Foxface and ran, as the Careers saw him.

"**Hot girls, we have problems too, we're just like you," Katniss hummed, very annoyed that she was singing it.**

But it reminded her of Peter, and he had saved her life. She'd just faced off against a burning forest with fireballs and her leg was scored, burning under her hand.

So, with that, she strode out, not nearly as cautious as she should be as running footsteps approached.

She was slammed into by Peter and thrown to the floor.

They got up, Katniss clutching her head. "Jeez Peter, don't do that. You scared me."

Peter was already up though. "Yeah, well get ready to shit your pants. I have the Careers after me."

Katniss looked up at Peter, his hair plastered against his head, a hint of suspicious brown in it.

"Seriously? I think you're over reacting."

"There he is! Look it's both!"

She darted up, looking at the Careers.

The Monster had tight curls on his head, so he looked very stupid and he was carrying a spear, a sword and knife at his waist, with a full backpack.

That bitch she was dressed in green to Cato's red, her blonde hair dank and ratty from the rain, two knives in her hands, and again a full pack on her back, including a… wait, was that a bow?

Clove was brandishing throwing knives, but with no full pack on her back, which was weird. Her hair was all frizzy, huge and looking extremely stupid.

Marvel had a spear and his hair hadn't been affected by the rain, as it always looked stupid, cut in a schoolboy style. Seriously, look at his picture on the 'Hunger Games' Wiki. It's is stupid.

Peter looked at her. "You're getting my name right," he said.

"Yeah, bigger things to worry about, Peter," she pointed at the Careers, and another tribute who had tagged along.

"Run," Peter told her, brandishing his knife. "I have them."

"Peter-"

"Go!" He shouted.

She ran, tearing into the trees, and looking up at a nice tall one, darting up it, climbing from branch to branch, getting a high as she could before looking back at the ground for Peter. Her leg burned fro the exertion, but she just gritted her teeth.

She heard fighting, clashes, a scream, and a cannon shot. She bit her lip, hoping it wasn't Peter.

Just then, he came charging through the trees, a bloody knife in his hands, looking up at Katniss.

"What happened?" Katniss called.

Peter looked wild. "Killed one; think I wounded another."

At that moment, the Careers came through the trees and Marvel hurled a spear at Peter, ripping the knife from his hand.

Peter backed against the tree in fear.

Marvel pulled a knife and walked forward, Clove sticking back, her knives directed at his face, and Cato, his spear pointing, looking distinctively uncomfortable.

Glimmer was grinning as if she'd just been told she was going to be 'Bitch of the Year', her knives drawn. Katniss swore she smiled at Cato as if to say: _'Isn't this fun?'_

"Isn't this fun?" She asked.

Cato tried to smile weakly. "Yeah, tons."

The Careers focused on Peter, who was sweating.

"Got away once, but not this time," Clove snarled. "Kill Peeta, then we'll get his girlfriend."

Marvel moved in with his knife.

"Wait!" Peter shouted. "You got my name wrong! But that's not all! Do you want to continue with that!?"

He gestured at their hair.

"What do you mean?" Glitter asked.

"I mean, no offence, you're hair looks terrible. I can fix it! I trained as a barber for 3 years before becoming a baker!"

The Careers looked among themselves.

"We need him," The Monster muttered.

"We have to kill him," Clove replied.

"He could be useful," Marvel added.

"I want to stick _something _with my knives. I haven't been able to yet," Glimmer said.

Cato looked at her. "Please Glimmer, just this once. Let him live, for… I don't know, for your hair."

She scowled. "No."

"For me then," The Monster pleaded.

Glimmer's face softened. "Fine, but if he kills us, then I'm. Blaming. You."

Cato just smiled at that. "Go ahead. You can have a go at me everyday when we're dead."

"I will," Glimmer promised.

"Looking forward to it," Cato grinned.

Peter pushed off the tree. "Okay, if you guys have any hair products, now is the time to tell. I can do it without, but it'll be so much better if you do."

Clove looked around, a face of mock concentration on. "Hmmm, let me think… who is the most vain, arrogant, stuck up, cares about herself, most beautiful and conceited tribute here…. oh, yeah, that's you!" She pointed at Glimmer who'd been playing with her hair, muttering to Cato that'll she'll be beautiful again soon.

She jerked around. "Me? Oh, no, I don't have any hair stuff."

"Get her bag!"

Marvel grabbed it and Glimmer hit him with her fists uselessly.

"No, no, they're mine," he said primly. "Get away, I don't want to share."

Cato grabbed her and held her back as she struggled, Marvel and Clove checking her bag.

"Shit," Marvel muttered, "she's got hair wax, conditioner, shampoo, dye, hair gel-"

"That was for Cato!" Glimmer whined from Cato's arms.

"She even has Ralph Lauren!" Clove cried.

Peter took the bag. "Now _this _I can work with!"

"It's mine!" Glimmer whined. "None of you ugly people can pull it off," she stated. She looked up at Cato. "Beside you Cato darling, you look like a Greek God. Have you been working out?" She looked down at Cato's muscled arms.

Cato smiled sheepishly. "A bit," he mumbled.

"You're arms are wrapped around my breast," Glimmer noted teasingly.

Cato did the natural thing. He got awkward, let her go, and blushed, mumbling about not meaning too.

Glimmer ran for her hair supplies and Peter wacked her with the bag, taking her out.

"Right, let's get to work!" He smiled.

And Katniss, trapped in a tree, watched as Peter gave the Careers haircuts.

**That's the chapter! Tell me what you thought of it all, (Marvel nearly dies to rain) and all that! But of romance on both sides and all! if you have any ideas of where you want this to go, please tell me, but please Fav, Follow or at least give a review with your thoughts! Thanks to all who do! You keep this story alive! Also, head to the Poll on my profile of you want to vote for your favourite character!**


	16. Getting Over The Past

**Less review last time, which is a shame. Please take two seconds to just write something quickly! I swear, all I want is one word and it'll be perfect, so please, if you've read this and liked it, just take a second to tap out a quick review. It'll take two secs!**

**Katniss held her leg in pain, cursing the fact that she got the burning forest and the other tributes just got rain to ruin their hair. Fuck, these games suck.**

Peeta had worked his magic and the Careers had perfect hair again.

Clove had her old style back, all frizz gone, Cato was back to his gelled front, Glimmer had her perfect hair, bouncy and golden, braided down both sides and generally perfect.

But Marvel was the changed one. Peter had gotten rid of his school boy style and now he had a very cool hairstyle that was indescribably good. It was gelled up at the front, but it was also a work of art. It was so good, Katniss wanted it, even though she was a girl.

**Down in the Career camp, they had gone back to looking beautifully scary and were now plotting to kill Katniss.**

"How about we leave her?" Cato put in.

Glimmer looked at him like he was mad. "No way! We should be debating how we're going to kill her!"

Clove pointed out: "You have a bow. Spear the bitch."

Glimmer nodded, eyes crazy. "That's an idea!"

She stood up, tearing the bow off, and raising it, nocking an arrow.

Katniss looked down and paled. "How good are you?"

Glimmer bared her teeth, but Cato answered.

"She's terrible," he used his hands to clarify.

"Oh, good," Katniss smiled.

Glimmer let an arrow fly and it hit Katniss right through her thigh.

"FUCK!"

Cato blushed. "Sorry. Lucky shot?"

Glimmer shot again, catching Katniss through the shoulder.

"I'm really sorry!" Cato tried to tell her as she screamed.

"Go away," Katniss cried, retreating up her tree.

Peeta got in the way. "Hey, why don't we just wait for her to come down? You can't hit her from there."

Katniss was so high, but her tears could be heard.

Clove walked up. "Right, are we camping? Okay, then we need fire. But only for a campfire, don't burn the tree."

Peter ran off to get some, as Marvel came up with a huge axe for chopping trees.

"What are you going to do with that?" Clove asked.

Marvel shrugged. "I figured I'd cut her head off."

Clove laughed. "And there was me thinking you'd cut the tree down with that! What a silly billy I am!"

Marvel waved it off with a smile and sat down.

Glimmer sighed, sitting down as Cato looked up at Katniss.

"Why are you looking at her?" She asked.

Cato frowned. "I don't know."

Glimmer scowled. "Off topic, I'm the most beautiful person here right? Better than any of the tributes, including ones up trees?"

Cato nodded. "Yep, you're the sun to their darkness."

"Poetry?"

"Nah, just words."

Glimmer looked up at Katniss angrily as the day drew to a close, but she was happy about how Cato had just described her.

**It was getting dark and Katniss was dying.**

She'd gotten the arrows out, which had been a bad idea, and she was now fighting off blood loss.

Woody had seen all this and was now in a room, trying to persuade some rich people to give her medicine.

"Look, you want her to survive?"

The sponsor shifted. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Woody asked. "Don't you have a bet?!"

"No, I changed that to Peeta Mellark instead."

"Look, you have to give her something! She's going to die!"

"Why do I care?"

"Because… because or else I'll dance to Rebecca Black's Friday, right in front of you."

The sponsor narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't…"

Woody pulled out his IPod. "It's Track 3," he said darkly.

**The Careers had started a fire, which meant jack shit to Katniss, freezing, bleeding out, and now inhaling their scummy smoke, the bastards.**

"I hate you!" Katniss screamed.

Marvel looked up. "Err, we don't care," he stated, before turning back to his meal. "Here Cato, eggs, toast, nice crispy bacon."

"Thank you."

Katniss' stomach growled and she sighed to herself, wishing she could have some.

Down in the Careers camp, they were having a barbecue.

Peeta leant in. "Hey guys! I'm so happy I betrayed Katniss and joined you! I'm having a great time!"

"YAY!" The Careers cried.

"Hunger Games? More like Hungry Games!" Peter shouted, holding up a sausage.

"YAY!"

"We can sleep together!"

"YAY!"

"We can listen to Barry Zimmerframe!"

The Careers looked at each other. "Erm," some coughed.

"No?" Peter asked. "How about All Time Low?"

"YAY!"

"How about you let me go and give me some food and medicine!" Katniss cried.

"YAY!"

Cato looked up as Glimmer started making chocolate marshmallows for them. He wished he could save Katniss somehow… she didn't deserve to die like this.

"How do you do this?"

Cato looked down at Glimmer, who was repeatedly getting her marshmallow killed, and leant in.

He took her hand. "Look, don't put it in too far."

Glimmer looked up at him with eyes full of… unless he was mistaken it was some sort of… idolism, or adoration, which she had never given him before.

He felt a little uncomfortable. "Put it back in," he moved her hand forward.

Glimmer brushed him off. "I have this, really."

The marshmallow died to the fire.

Cato raised his eyebrows as she looked at him furtively.

"I _did _have it," she tried to explain.

"Was that roasting a marshmallow?" Cato teased.

She looked down at her arm. "It was _supposed _to be."

Cato smiled, before looking up at Katniss and sighing.

Glimmer hit him lightly. "Cheer up! It's going brilliantly!" She smiled at him, looking radiant.

"Remember that girl back at the campfire?"

Cato nodded. "How could I forget?"

Glimmer obviously took that as a 'How could I forget! Yeahh, I love killing people!'

"Yeah, she screamed like nothing else. At least the others have a shred of dignity." She grasped Cato's arm, putting on a high pitched voice.

"_No, please don't! Let me join you! I lit a campfire and now I think I have a chance? Help, I can fight!" _Glimmer laughed hysterically and since all the Careers were watching them Cato only had one choice:

He laughed as hard as he could, feeling physically sick. "Yeah, that's pretty good actually. You should become an actor or something."

Glimmer smiled at him like she never had before. It was radiating. Cato smiled honestly, unable to help himself, and he wished he could make her smile like that all the time. He felt good, really happy, before he realised what he was doing.

"Actually," Glimmer started. "I was-"

"You're sick!" Katniss shouted down. "I'd rather sleep with Woody than be one of you!"

Everyone ignored her besides Cato who glanced up uneasily.

Glimmer followed his eyes. "Don't worry, we'll have her down soon, then we can move on."

Cato frowned. "Why do you have to do that?"

Glimmer looked confused, her marshmallow still suspended over the fire. "Do what?"

"Pretend it's all a game."

Glimmer's face hardened. "Pardon?"

Cato looked at her. "You act like it's a big game."

She frowned. "News flash Cato, it _is _a game."

"It's pretty sick to me."

Glimmer's eyes burned. "Yeah?"

Cato felt that anger building up in him. "Yeah. It's sick and we don't have to do this!"

"We don't have a choice," she flared.

"You always have a choice," Cato snarled. "At the end of the day you can only blame yourself."

Glimmer stood. "You're right! At the end of the day, when you're _dead, _you can only blame yourself, because everyone else has been doing their fucking best to keep you alive!"

Cato stood, towering over her. "You don't have to act like a monster while doing it! _Oh, Cato, let's kill this person, oh Cato, let's rip their arms off first, won't that be a FUCKING LAUGH!" _He kicked at a branch, sending it flying.

"Play by the rules Cato!"

"What? Act like a freak! These games are all about losing yourself!"

Glimmer moved right up, grabbing Cato and bringing him down.

"These games are about strength, and determination; qualities you seem to lack!"

Cato glared at her. "Your precious Capitol train that into you?" He snarled.

"You want to be the decent person? Want to be the big man? You're thinking just like the Districts. And we all know what happened there."

"Why don't you remind me?"

"Gladly," Glimmer spat. "The Capitol proved itself and destroyed us. We're their slaves now, forced to do whatever they want. You want righteousness? Look at District 13. Gone, destroyed because they were weak. They had the weapons, and they failed. Want to know why I hate my parents so much? Because like you, they're a pair of fucking idealists; always complaining about how _one day, _we shall be _'free'_, not knowing that everyday, they are doing exactly what the Capitol wants. But despite their ideas that the Capitol is evil, that they can someday be overthrown, they didn't lift a single finger when my name was picked." She backed up. "Thanks Mum, thanks Dad. Let's fight the Capitol, but first, let's let them take our daughter, because _that is the line_; _that's _the extent of our courage. We'll protest by the fire, but when I thought they'd help me, when it came to the thing they had promised to protect me from all my life, they let me go to my death. _That_ is when I stopped believing, when I had to toughen up and realise the Capitol was in charge, and that was it. Now, it's kill or be killed and I am _not _going to repeat the failures of the Districts." She breathed heavily, looking up at Cato. "So go ahead, stick to your beliefs and see how far they take you. Just don't ask me to watch as you die."

"Glimmer," Cato called. "I- I didn't-"

She glared at him. "You're right. You don't know a thing about me." She stormed off into the trees, and Cato sank back down, Clove and Marvel watching him.

"Sorry," Marvel muttered. "Want a sausage?"

"**This is like an episode of 'Desperate Housewives'," Katniss muttered from her tree.**

She was still, y'know, dying, but she swore it was getting better. I mean, she couldn't even feel the pain anymore! And everything was going black, so that was good!

She jerked up as an annoying beeping noise was heard, drifting from through the trees.

"**Steer it, steer it!"**

Woody and Crane tried to control the little parachute, directing it at a dying Katniss.

"You press this," Crane stated, holding a button down.

Woody pushed him aside, trying to use the joystick to control it. He looked with disgust at the 'Joy' stick. Anything but…

"Get it in there!" Crane cried. Everyone was watching as Woody, sweating, tried to steer it towards Katniss.

It passed her by, drifting through her outstretched hands.

"Shittt," Woody moaned.

**Katniss grabbed at the little parachute.**

It went right through her hands. She leaned off her tree, trying to capture it as the Careers slept below. It moved out of reach and drifted off down to the Careers.

"No, no, no," Katniss muttered as it moved to Clove. "No, no," it rested over Peter, "yes, yes, yes," it finally landed right next to 'The Monster'. It gave a big beep to signify it's presence, waking up Cato, and finally falling silent.

"Fucking, stupid, shitty parachute," Katniss moaned.

Cato rubbed his eyes, looking at the parachute. He frowned, obviously wondering what was in it, and why he needed it. Maybe it was a book on how to understand girls, because as far as Cato was concerned, you needed that.

He picked it up, opening it, and looking inside. Katniss had given up hope now, so she just watched him warily, wondering what he was going to do with it.

He frowned, looking at the weird paste, with the message:

"_Hey Tuna-Flavour! Rub this all over those nasty arrow wounds!"_

Cato didn't think this was for him. He checked for arrow wounds, made sure none were present, before looking up at Katniss.

She looked down at him forlornly. He could see she was white, clearly losing blood. He looked around, biting his lip, before setting his face. This was his chance to save her; he had to take it.

He looked up at Katniss, and moved towards the tree with determination.

Suddenly he heard branches crackling, and he dove back from the tree, hiding the container behind his back as Glimmer walked out from the trees.

"Hey-," he started lamely, raising his hand, before frowning and looking away.

Glimmer flushed, before taking a deep breath.

"Cato, I'm sorry. I- it's not your fault you don't like killing people. I mean- it's- it's not bad. You don't have to-, "she looked at him, shaking her head. "Am I making any sense?"

Cato smiled, trying to keep her from wondering about the package he was trying to hide.

"No, it's great. Got you!"

Glimmer frowned. "You're not my parents; I don't know why I shouted at you like that."

"Great!" Cato grinned madly.

She frowned. "I'm so-"

"Forgiven!"

She frowned. "You didn't know what I was about to say."

"Oh, say it again."

"I'm sor-"

"Cool!"

She frowned. "I'm sorry!" She said quickly.

Cato shrugged, feeling a weird sensation in his chest. "I understand," he answered honestly. "My parents put me in the games so I could make more 'friends'."

Glimmer gave him a tentative smile. "How'd that go?"

Cato pretended to think. "Hmm, well, I found a bloodthirsty little blond spitfire." He looked down at her. "Does that count?"

She grinned. "I'm not small."

Cato shrugged. "Perspective."

Glimmer moved closer. "The fires gone out," she observed, nodding at it.

"Yeah."

"We need to keep warm."

Cato nodded. "Yeah…"

"We could sleep together. To stay warm."

She was quite close now. "Yeah."

"Over there," she had her chin raised, but her eyes flickered to a spot by the fire.

"Yeah." Why was he just saying 'yeah'?

Katniss watched as Glimmer got close to Cato, her body touching his. "Slut," she muttered.

Glimmer now had her body pressed lightly against Cato, so close. Cato wanted to breathe, but that would be right in her face. He couldn't!

Her chin brushed down his chest. Cato nearly cried as he got a full blown erection.

If Glimmer felt it (how couldn't she, it was digging into her stomach?!) she had the good grace not to mention it.

She smiled wickedly at him, pushing him down, before lying on top of him with a little… squeak.

Cato's arm had flung out as he fell, and Katniss watched in horror as the container flew, ready to hit Glimmer on the back. Or rather, her ass.

Cato caught it in his palm, but his hand contacted with Glimmer's backside.

Katniss felt for him, she really did.

Glimmer's face made a funny little motion. "Cato, don't get ahead of yourself."

Cato swallowed; "Sorry, got a little excited."

Glimmer nodded, moving along him until she could grasp his arm, which she did, and held it like a vice.

Cato watched as she slowly fell asleep, her breathing dropping down, and he brushed a bit of hair out of her face, feeling strangle protective. He almost thought twice about saving Katniss, because Glimmer wouldn't like that, but- no he had too. The boys face flashed before him and he felt bile rise. He _was _going to save Katniss.

He slowly shrugged Glimmer off his arm, and rolled away. She started muttering furiously the moment she lost his arm and he swore her dreams were getting violent, but he couldn't help that.

He turned to the tree and looked up.

"Here you go!" He whispered, holding out the container.

Katniss looked down at him forlornly. "Why are you doing this?"

Cato chuckled. "I'm hoping you'll bang me later."

"Excuse me!?"

Cato made hushing noises. "Jeez, I was joking. Peeta's got his work cut out," he muttered. He waved the container again. "Come and get it."

Katniss scowled. "I can't. I'm too weak after your bitchy girlfriend shot me."

Cato glared up at her. "Bitch," he muttered again.

He grasped a branch and pulled himself up. He slowly pulled himself up the tree, cursing under his breath, wishing he was asleep with Glimmer's warm arms around him. Instead, he was transporting medicine for a tribute that got a 2.

The branches started creaking, and he didn't dare go any higher.

Katniss looked at him. "It would be so easy to kick you down," she said smugly.

Cato had had enough. He was risking his life for her and now she was being flippant.

He pulled out his knife, that mad anger taking over. He wanted to kill her, to drive his knife- he started to calm down at her expression of shock, and he put his knife away.

"Take it," he said wearily.

Katniss took it. "Thanks," she said honestly.

Cato nodded. "Not sure it'll do you any good, but…," he started making his way down the tree again.

"Hey, could you get me the bow off bitchface?"

"Fuck your bow," Cato hissed, moving down.

"Why?" Katniss asked.

Cato looked up and he felt a need to confine, to tell all. "I killed a tribute, he must have been 15, and I can't deal with it. I don't care if I die; I'm never killing again."

"Not for you," Katniss observed, "but maybe for Bubbles?"

Cato didn't reply, because that was one thing he wasn't going to talk about.

He reached the bottom; sighing and moving back to Glimmer who grabbed him like he was someone she needed to kill and moved all her weight onto him so he wouldn't escape.

He looked up as Katniss' shape blurred and nearly cried.

"Are you crying?" Marvel asked blearily.

"Fuck off, Marvel," Cato commented.

Marvel nodded. "Consider me fucked," before falling back to sleep.

Cato saw the tributes face before him, before falling into darkness.

**I hope you liked Glimmer's past thing. I wanted to make a realistic reason, and I think it worked. Tell me what you thought about this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it! Or just quickly give me a 'crap' or 'good' and help this story out! Thanks, and I love to hear what you thought.**


	17. Christmas Special

**ANNOUNECMENT!**

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	18. Cato Runs From A Tree

**Thanks for your support towards this story, and please review so I can keep this thing going! We should be hitting some really good stuff soon, I hope, as we approach the end of the games. Please take two seconds to review!**

**Dawn was approaching; the favourite time for quests in 'Merlin' and Katniss decided that there and then she was going to make her escape in the style of the very show.**

But that was the hard bit; she couldn't find any route of escape. None was present, and that sucked a little bit to her. She glanced around, wondering if she could just drop down and leg it before the Careers woke up, but she was angry for being kept in a tree for a whole night, so she decided a little revenge was in order.

She looked around and saw it. A Tracker Jacker nest, the thing she hadn't seen before, even though she'd spent an entire night below it.

She smiled, looking down at the tributes which were sleeping. She glanced at Peter who'd saved her life, but also betrayed her a bit. Why hadn't he attacked the Careers? Was it a ploy? Did she even care anymore?

"**Oh, look at that Claudius."**

Caesar and Claudius were watching from the little TV room, and they saw Katniss see the Tracker Jacker nest.

"Those are Tracker Jackers, right?" Caesar asked.

Claudius nodded. "Yeah, here's one I made earlier."

Caesar ignored him and looked at the nest. "Well, it's big shit if she throws that."

Claudius nodded. "_Big _shit."

**Katniss cut the nest off easily with pure willpower,** and hefted it, aiming at the tributes. She looked at Glitter the Barbie Princess, and began to aim for her, then realised that Cato was with her. Damn, he'd saved her life, so he was a no go target. She aimed for Peter, but then the best character would die and she also needed him for later plot points. I mean, what's a love triangle without the 2nd guy? They'd be upstaged by those pricks from Twilight.

She aimed for Marvel and Clove, and threw it.

She watched with bated breath as it flew, hurtling towards them in complete silence.

It hit the ground with a splat and- wait, it did nothing.

Katniss frowned as the Careers jerked in their sleep.

"That sucked as a nest," she muttered.

"**What the fuck do you call that?"**

Caesar shrugged in response to Claudius language.

"Sorry ladies and gentlemen, I just got a bit carried away," Claudius added.

Caesar laughed. "No, look, she picked up the wrong nest, the silly wally."

**Katniss scowled, before looking up at a very live Tracker Jacker nest, buzzing above her.**

"Finally," she sighed, before climbing up. She scowled at the thick branch that held the nest in place, and pulled out her knife. It looked like it was going to fall right in the middle, so it was really give and take on who survived.

Katniss pulled out her knife and started cutting.

"Be Glimmer, be Glimmer, be Glimmer," she said with each cut. "Be Glimmer, be Glim- ouch," she let out as one stung her. She gritted her teeth, cutting at the branch faster, as stray Tracker Jackers started stinging her relentlessly.

"Fuck off you little mints," Katniss flared, as one hit her right on the nose.

She started cutting more furiously. "BeGlimmerbeGlimmerbeGlimmerb eGlimmer," she chanted furiously.

The branch finally broke, the nest tumbling down the trees.

**Cato's eyes jerked open as a crashing sound rung out.**

He looked around to see a cloud of black flying in all directions. He winced as he felt a sting under his eye.

He looked around to see the other Careers crying out and trying to get away. He sprung up and grabbed Glimmer, who was disoriented, and sprinted off away from the Tracker Jackers. He winced as he felt stings on his neck.

"Let me down!" Glimmer screamed, confused and furious.

He dropped her slightly, still running, as she found her feet and tore after him.

He felt her drag his arm and heard her shout: "The lake!"

He changed direction with her as they hurtled through the forest, hearing the other footsteps of the Careers as they had the same idea, and together they broke through the tree line as they Tracker Jackers pursued them.

Cato saw Glimmer throw herself into the water and dove in after her.

He hit the water hard, trying to orient himself as he looked around at the blue. He swam to the top, breaking the surface and breathing heavily, glancing around.

"What are you doing, you idiot?! GET DOWN!" He felt a hand on his head as another sting hit his cheek, pushing him down under.

He felt the same hand grasp his coat and start pulling at him, until he started swimming off down the river, getting fully out of range of the Tracker Jackers.

They finally surfaced, looking back at the cloud of Tracker Jackers dispersing off looking for prey.

Glimmer swam over, sopping wet, pulling her sodden hair out of her face.

Cato looked at her, breathing heavily. "What happened?"

Glimmer was panting, so she just pointed at land, too winded to speak.

**Minutes earlier, Katniss fell out of her tree with a thump, looking to see Peter trying to reason with the Jackers.**

"Look," he reasoned. "I have no idea who destroyed your nest."

One made a buzzing noise.

"Yeah, well that is rude." Buzz. "No, there's no excuse for bad manners, but you have to-" he saw Katniss, looking at him. The Tracker Jackers turned around seeing her. More buzzing.

Peeta licked his lips, steeling himself.

"I did it!" He shouted, before plunging off into the bushes.

Katniss looked back at him, a weird feeling in her chest as she realised Peter had saved her again.

Her vision was going… well, it was like a bad TV, all static. She was starting to see stuff. Like, eurgh, Woody singing.

She stumbled through the trees, breathing heavily, as images flashed before her.

"_We have a deal, I'll never be picked!" Gale assured her._

"_Gale-"_

"_I am so never going to be picked, that if I was, it-"_

"_Gale!"_

"_And then she said to Sally, and I quote: 'You're a riot, Gale-"_

"_GALE!"_

_He turned to face her. "Yes catshit."_

"_Not my name."_

"_It is a bit."_

"_How many times is your name in?" Katniss ignored his taunts._

_Gale frowned. "Erm, about 478 times." He saw her shocked expression. "Relax catshit, I have a deal with-"_

She looked around; trying to gauge what was going on. Where was she? Was she in a forest or a jelly castle? She looked around; yup, definitely a jelly castle.

Wait, was that Peter running towards her. Yes, it was.

"Back off Peeta," Katniss slurred. "This is my jelly castle!"

Peeta looked at her like she was mad, a spear in hand.

"Fuck your jelly castle! You need to go! RUN! And MY NAMES NOT PEETA!"

Katniss shook her head. "Peter Mellark. That's it, right? P-e-t-e-r Mellark. You're so brave." She tried to hug him but he threw her away.

"Run! Now! Get out!" He turned at rustling and levelled his spear. Clove came flying out of the trees, and raised a knife.

Katniss' common sense kicked in and she ran, kicking up dust, and flying away. With a pang, she looked back, seeing Peter take a knife to the shoulder, thrown back, staggering, as Clove slashed at his throat. He barely dodged, before Katniss turned away, running as her vision blackened.

**Cato and Glimmer dragged them selves onto the shore, breathing heavily and coughing up water.**

Cato pulled out the Tracker Jacker stings, because unlike in the book, he just pulled out stings imbedded in his flesh, because that's what normal people did. His vision was blurring slightly, and the colours were sharper, but he shook that off, trying to get his bearings.

He looked over at Glimmer, who was on her knees, coughing up water and shaking, her hair plastered over her face.

"You… saved… me," Cato gasped.

Glimmer's eyes were wild, but she nodded. "You did the… damn… you did the same."

Cato lay there, looking out across the water. He brushed his hair off his face, sighing.

Glimmer was shaking really badly now, the points where she was stung were swelling.

Cato moved over, looking at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She really was looking bad though… she looked up at him, anger in her face.

"What's wrong?" Cato asked. But before he knew it, Glimmer had drawn her knife, slashing at his throat. Cato jerked back, but the knife cut right across his face, cutting into the flesh near his left eye.

He didn't even feel the pain, scrambling to his feet.

Glimmer whipped her hair out of her face, holding her knife out.

"Glimmer," Cato tried to placate, holding out his hands.

She slashed at him, and he dodged under, coming out behind her.

"Look, it's just the venom, you don't-"

Glimmer stabbed at him, screaming, and he grabbed it.

"Stop-," he felt a kick connect with his face, sending him down. He felt the back of his head pulled up, and a knife put to his throat.

He grabbed the arm, and threw her over, and Glimmer just lay there, the knife dropping from her hand, all fight going.

"Whatever; just do it. Kill me. You might as well. You're dead to me," she gasped.

Cato crawled over to her. "Glimmer, it's me. Cato."

She looked up at him, before starting to cry. Cato was confused. He had never had to deal with someone crying, and he had never thought Glimmer would ever cry.

She grasped at him, and he threw his arms around her, holding her close, both on their knees.

"I- I hate- my parents," Glimmer gasped, crying into his shoulder.

Cato just buried his face in her wet hair, breathing slowly and calmly.

"I've already- already lost- I've lost them already," she grasped him as hard as she could. "I don't- I can't lose you too."

Cato felt his heart stop. Glimmer was calming down, but it was clear she had some seriously bad relationships if Cato was supposed to be her best yet. He remembered that he'd only known her for more than a week, but that didn't stop him from saying:

"I'd die for you."

**Marvel looked through the woods, trying to search for a sign of life.**

Glimmer and Cato had disappeared after the attack; Clove had shot after Peeta, and he had been left alone. He looked around, slightly nervous, clutching his spear, Cato's pack from the campfire over his shoulder, as he trod through the forest.

He had to get to the Cornupia. He looked around, hoping not to run into Thresh.

A shape darted out in front of him, and he levelled his spear.

"Stop!" He cried.

The figure paused, turning slowly. Marvel recognised the girl from District 5.

"What are you doi-"

"Are you Captain Marvel?"

Marvel frowned. "Yeah…"

She smiled. "I love you."

He smiled. "Really?"

"Can I look at your bag?"

Marvel gave it over.

"Yonk!" She shouted, running off with it.

"Hey! That's mine!" He ran after her into the woods after a very unnecessary scene.

**Since Katniss was all hijacked, Peter was getting killed by Clove, and the rest of the tributes are useless, it went back to Cato and Glimmer.**

Glimmer opened her eyes, looking at the fire that was crackling next to her.

She sat up slowly, clutching her head.

She muttered to herself: "That fire. It'll draw-"

"Yeah," Cato's voice sounded behind her. She turned around to see Cato, dripping wet and shirtless, carrying what looked like his shirt, full of something wriggling.

Glimmer coughed awkwardly, and looked away.

Cato strode over, dropping his sword, blood running down the edge, and sitting down.

"It'll draw people, but," Cato gripped his sword's hilt. "I'll protect us."

Glimmer raised her eyebrows. "Shirtless?"

He didn't look abashed. "I used it to hold the fish."

"What about your jacket?"

Cato nodded over at her and she realised she was covered by it.

"Oh," she nodded, looking up at the dark sky, before looking back at Cato's muscled torso. Yes, they were in a death game, but she was still female, and-

Cato threw his shirt back on, before pulling out his knife and killing the fish.

Glimmer was a little disappointed, but she tried to distract herself.

"So? I passed out?"

"Right," Cato agreed.

Glimmer nodded. "How long?"

"Couple of hours," he shrugged. "The stings didn't go deep, but I suppose in your wunded up state, they had a bad effect."

"Why didn't you pass out?" She asked a little angrily.

Cato took his turn to raise his eyebrows at her. "I'm nearly twice your weight. I'm not as easy to take down."

Glimmer sighed, looking at the fish. "You know how to do that?" She watched him skin them with apprehension.

Cato looked at her. "And you do?"

She raised her hands. "Luxury District; I had three square meals a day."

Cato nodded, scowling. "What's the plan?"

Glimmer looked around, before raising her hand and counting off their assets.

"Right, we have: weapons," Cato held up his weapon belt and her knife holsters.

"We have food," Cato held up the fish, "for now," she added darkly.

"We have your six pack."

"Wait, what?"

Glimmer looked at him innocently. "What?"

Cato frowned. "Did you just say 'your six pack'?"

Glimmer laughed softly, brushing Cato's hair into his face. "No, listen darling. The Tracker Jacker venom must be getting to you."

"I'm not sure-"

"But we need packs and provisions before we can continue."

Cato dropped his thoughts and nodded. "Yes, and we need to head to the Cornupia for that."

Glimmer nodded. "We're Careers. We can't survive otherwise."

Cato scowled. "Marvel and Clove will be heading there too, mark my words."

Glimmer put on Cato's voice. _"Consider them marked."_

Cato gave her a grudging smile at the reference to their conversation at the interviews and started cooking the fish on the end of a wet stick, smiling. "We'll have to race them there."

Glimmer nodded, looking at the fish and brushing her thick hair away, making sure it was still bound.

"Won't that be fun?"

Cato chuckled darkly, gripping his sword with his free hand.

When the fish was ready, she stared at hers gloomily. Finally, she got up the courage to ask what was bothering her.

"Hey, Cato," he looked up at her voice. "What did I say when I was Jacked up," she stated.

He frowned, considering. "Well… you mentioned your parents."

Glimmer's face hardened. "You must be bored of hearing about them."

Cato moved closer. "No, I'm not." He was getting quite close now, so Glimmer put a hand on his chest and shoved him away playfully.

She looked away, grinding her teeth, before deciding to just get it out.

"Fine, I'll tell you."

"You don't have to-"

She looked at him. "Do you want to know or not?"

Cato kept silent, watching her.

Glimmer wrung her hands, before starting at a rush, trying to get it out. "Only child. My Dad does something with cloth, and my mother is almost a trophy wife. She's very beautiful… but she only really becomes animated when she's talking about the Capitol." She stared at Cato. "You have to realise, for seventeen years I listened to them talk about how they would fight against the Capitol. And I believed it. I used to be right with them when hey made 'plans'," she said bitterly. "They were nothing of the sort; 'organised rambling' is a far better word." She sighed. "Then my name was pulled out. See, I'd always enjoyed training. It was fun to think I was training to _fight _the Capitol. That's what my parents told me. By the time my name was reaped, I was probably one of the most lethal tributes in District One. I had a cause, which channelled my… my _hate _into skill; none of the other tributes in training had anything but there lives to fight for_. _Of course, when I was reaped, and my parents did nothing, I changed pretty quickly." She looked up bitterly at the sky. "You would have loved me Cato… I was sweet, and kind, and I would have loved your poetry-"

"You don't love my poetry?" Cato teased.

Glimmer looked at him. "I was also stupid, and weak. Not like you. You have morals. I didn't. Not then, not now, though that's only just become apparent to me." She looked him, sitting there.

"I think that's one of the reasons I'm… so taken with you, Cato. Why I'm trying so hard to protect you. When I look at you… I see me. And I miss it." She looked down, clearing her throat. "The alliance is over now… no more Careers."

She felt Cato move closer.

She looked up at him, her eyes watering again. She was angry at her tears. She was strong, not some useless girl. "You would have loved me. I'm sick now," she choked.

Cato wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his shoulder.

**Might be a bit more of the same, but next chapter I'm moving forward, and I think you'll like it! Just think, Rue and Katniss, and you're there! Please review, and thank you for all the 339 ones we have!**


	19. Rue Cooks Dinner

**Thanks for the reviews! This is a fresh chapter with lots of stuff I hope you'll laugh at. Please review this, even if you just put down a 'lol' or something, or tell me what you liked! I'm always open to ideas, so if you have any, don't be afraid to share! Please review, as it can only take you two seconds, but it inspires me to continue writing!**

**Katniss opened her eyes to find herself hanging upside down.**

Where was she? She looked around to find herself in a small clearing, tied to a stick, suspended over a fire, obviously ready to be cooked.

"Hello?" She called.

She looked around at noise, to see Rue there, eating what looked like… flesh?

"Hey there," Katniss cooed. "Are you going to be a good girl and free me?"

Rue smiled. "No, I'm going to eat you!"

Katniss gaped at her.

She nodded her head. "Yes, see the Careers are moving towards the Cornupia and I don't think I can take all of them. Only Thresh could, and he's in the field. So, I'll eat you!"

Katniss nodded, saying weakly: "Oh yes, that makes sense."

Rue nodded happily. "Glad to see you agree." She looked around. "Now, if you'll just wait here, I'll be back in a second."

Katniss smiled at her. "Can't wait!"

Rue beamed at her, before running off.

Katniss started working at her ropes vigorously, fighting to free herself.

"Come on, come on," she muttered, "how can a kid do knots so well?"

She wished she had a weapon.

"Hey Woody! Give me a knife please!" No answer. "He's probably drunk," Katniss decided, trying to tear the knots off. "Come on, what did I do to deserve this?" She stopped, thinking about it. "Well… I have been mean to Peter, who's saved my life a load of times… I have led on Gale, abandoned my friends, I might have killed Cato who saved my life, and then there was that time I stole Prim's peas." Deciding that she probably did deserve this, she got back to work.

She finally ripped off the ropes, and fell onto the hard fire pit, thankfully unlit.

"Oh, thank God," Katniss muttered happily, wiping the sweat of her face.

She got to her feet, before hearing a crunching sound behind her.

Rue was there, holding some leaves.

"Hey," Katniss started, "it was great and all, being with you, but I think I'm going to find… erm, I'll find Peter! He can't survive without me, so… yeah, I'll-"

Rue was smiling at her, walking casually. "What do you mean? Don't you know?"

Katniss' smile died. "What do you mean?"

Rue actually laughed. "_Seriously? _This is rich, it really is."

Katniss scowled. "What do you want monster?"

Rue's face hardened. "Your precious Peter is dead."

"You're wrong-" Katniss started stubbornly.

"No, no, I'm not. Don't take me for stupid. It was between you and Peter, and Cato and Glimmer as to which couple survives. Glato won by popular vote."

Katniss felt her eyes prickle. "You're wrong."

"No, I'm not. You might wish I was, but I can assure you, I know what I'm talking about."

"But people loved Peter. He was always so funny."

"Not funny enough. And before you think about pulling out Canon protection, this is Fan Fiction. _Anyone _can win the games! Even me! You know, if I wasn't so hated," she shrugged.

Katniss shook her head stubbornly. "I don't believe you."

"Look to the sky tonight, Girl on Fire."

Katniss' heart was hurting, and she knew why. Peter had given his life so she might be saved; he had fought Clove for her. That stupid, paint loving baker had stood against a District 2 tribute, and he'd paid the ultimate price.

Rue extended her claws. "Now, all that's left is to complete District 12's failure." She smiled. "I mean, he got a _minus. _You _truly_ are deluded."

Katniss turned on her heel and ran, tearing off through the forest, desperate to get away. She had to get away from the guilt, from Rue, from everything.

She looked back to see Rue tearing behind her, jumping off trees, and she knew she was dead.

**Glimmer never looked at Cato in quite the same way.**

He was sweet, and kind, and not like her in any way! But she had recently found out he was also muscled like Finnick Odair.

Cato looked over at her, continuing what he'd just been saying.

"Okay, how about this: '_Beauty is truth, truth beauty; that is all'"_

_Glimmer frowned; Cato was trying to educate her. _

_"__Is it Thomas Hardy?"_

_Cato smiled at her. "That was the last one! Repeating names won't get you anywhere!"_

_Glimmer grinned, flicking her finger in his direction. "Yeah, but I'm learning?"_

_Cato shook his head, grinning too. "Right: '__A narrow fellow in the grass'"_

Glimmer frowned. "Is it… Emily Dicksomething?"

"Dickinson," Cato corrected, "and a bit, yeah."

"I got one right," Glimmer confirmed.

"We've been at it for hours now," Cato told her, "something was _bound_," he pushed on Glimmer's head lightly, pushing her away, "to sink in."

"Right, an easy one: _The child is father of the man."_

_"__That's not true," Glimmer remarked._

_Cato sighed. "We've been __over __this. It's poetry. It's not all figurative. You," he smirked at her, "just don't know it."_

_Glimmer shook her head, pretending to moan. "That's hardly the point, dear, and," she drew herself up, "I didn't know it anyway."_

_"__To err is human; to forgive, divine," __Cato put in._

Glimmer sighed, spreading her arms. "I don't know. A priest?"

Cato looked at her. "Not exactly. I wasn't actually asking you a question; I was stating."

Glimmer frowned as she caught on. "No." She walked a little faster.

Cato sighed. "Look-"

"I didn't tell you about my parents so we could settle down to story time and find out how Glimmer resolves her problems."

"I did," Cato stated with a grin. "You're very intelligent. I'm sure you'll understand it soon enough."

Glimmer looked back at him. "I understand, and I've never been religious, so I have no desire to be considered divine in any facet."

Cato merely shrugged. "Whatever."

Then Katniss came bursting out of the trees.

**Katniss ran through the trees, before bursting out and slamming into someone.**

They both went down, and Katniss tried to catch her breath as she rested on top of the figure.

She looked down to see herself on top of Glimmer.

"Oh shit," Katniss muttered.

Glimmer gave her a little 'yeah, I know, right?' smile, before grabbing her arms and pushing her over with her legs.

Katniss fell onto her back, terrified as more problems loaded themselves onto her.

She felt hands grab her and she lashed out.

Her arm was caught and she felt her leg being swept out from under her. She fell to her knees and felt hands grasp her head, ready to snap it.

"Wait! Rue, she's behind me! It's Rue! She's-"

"What's she rambling about?" Glimmer's refined accent sounded in her ear.

"Maybe if you let her go, she'd be able to tell you!" She felt the hands leave her head, and she looked around to see Cato pushing Glimmer back.

She stood, realising that Cato had just been standing there; until he was ready to save her life again.

Cato was squaring off against Glimmer, who didn't look angry, merely resigned.

"What are you saying?" Cato asked Katniss.

"Rue, she's- it- Rue- she's—going- kill me!"

Glimmer grinned. "All I heard was 'Kill me'. Fair enough."

Cato was worried, and he made to step forward, before Glimmer turned on him.

"What Cato? You going to save her? Who's side are you on anyway?"

Cato looked confused and hurt. "Yours, obviously-"

"Even a Score 2 like her could kill us. The more dead, the better!"

Cato looked torn, but he stood down, his head bowed.

Katniss trembled as Glimmer drew her knife from her sheath, pushing her hair back.

"Oh yes, Miss. Girl on Fire. Why don't you twirl? That might help. Made me sick, watching that."

Katniss watched her walk closer, before the crashes that had been unhearable burst into full hearing.

They all looked around as Rue looked down at them from the trees, grinning.

"_Arghh!" _They all screamed like girls, even Cato, his voice pitching above Glimmer and Katniss'.

As one they forgot their fight and ran for it, darting into the trees as Rue followed them.

They leapt over logs, in and around trees until throwing themselves into a small cave, Cato barely fitting through.

Rue ran past, and they took the time to recover.

"_That was close," _Cato squeaked.

Glimmer looked at him. "Cato, what's wrong with your voice?"

"_I think it's broken. Aw crap."_

Glimmer and Katniss tried to stop from laughing as Cato sounded like a little girl.

"_It's not funny!"_

"You should sing Soprano!" Glimmer laughed.

"_Glimmer!"_

"_Glimmer," _Katniss matched. Glimmer and Katniss both laughed, falling over themselves.

"_It's not FUNNY!"_

"It is a bit-," Glimmer started, before stuttering off and pointing behind them.

Rue was looking at them through the cave wall.

"Run!"

They all darted out of the cave and into the forest again.

"We need to get rid of it!" Glimmer shouted.

"Hear hear!" Katniss agreed.

"_I agree!" _Cato squeaked.

They snorted but moved into a copse of trees and waited as they heard Rue approach.

"You okay killing?" Glimmer asked Cato, concerned.

Cato drew his sword, but he ruined it by speaking. _"It's a little different, y'know, when you're dealing with something that isn't really human. No, this isn't really killing."_

"Fair enough," Katniss put in, looking at their weapons. "Hey, do I get a weapon?"

Glimmer looked at her coolly. "We're still going to kill you after… so, why don't you stand there and distract her?"

"Peter's dead," Katniss muttered, trying to get sympathy points.

"_You never really-" _Glimmer started laughing silently at his voice, _"liked him anyway from want I saw."_

"Yeah, but he did save my life. We're friends, I think. Either way, I owe him my life."

Cato put a finger to his lip, as Rue's footsteps were heard.

"I know you're there. I can hear your little girl voices."

Cato sighed at the reference to his voice, but gripped his sword harder.

Rue came around the corner and Cato swung his sword, slashing her shoulder. She roared and swung and arm at him, throwing him aside.

Glimmer dove in with her knife, but it bounced off Rue's skin, and she bit at Glimmer, the latter barely dodging.

Katniss on the other hand, started singing 'Hot Girls' nervously.

"Glimmer! Go for her throat and eyes!"

"Dodge!"

"_Hot girls we have problems too, we're just like you."_

Cato slashed at Rue, his sword doing what knives couldn't, and cutting her up. She slashed at Cato with her claws, which he blocked, diving away as she lunged at him, rolling around, and cutting her back open.

Glimmer went for weak points as Cato fought, causing small wounds to appear.

Katniss nervously tapped her feet.

Glimmer brought her knife down on Rue's neck, but it snapped cleanly, the blade flying off towards Cato.

He ducked it, and scowled at Glimmer; he didn't need another scar to match the one by his left eye.

Glimmer pulled out her other knife, but Rue grabbed her, lifting her off her feet. Cato roared, charging, tackling Rue and sending Glimmer crashing to the ground. As Glimmer tried to suck in air, Cato dodged, and weaved, cutting at Rue.

"Die, Career!" Rue yelled.

Cato didn't answer, but Katniss could admire Cato for that; he did get a little angry, and sure he was a little opposed to killing, but he was deadly if forced into combat.

Katniss could see the anger burning in Cato's face. Rue reached out an arm, and Cato caught it, throwing her over and slashing his sword right through her other arm.

She roared in pain, and threw Cato back. He hit the ground and rolled back to his feet.

Rue slammed her arm into the ground and the earth erupted in Cato's face, shattering his sword, throwing him off his feet, and sending him into the ground.

"CATO!" Glimmer cried.

Katniss watched as Cato, now unconscious, the broken shards of his sword lying around him, was approached by Rue.

Glimmer was running but she wouldn't make it in time.

Suddenly, as Rue moved into Cato, Marvel sprung out of the trees.

"Cato needs help," he stated, running forward.

Rue dived at Cato's body as Marvel jumped, flying sideward. He launched his spear into Rue's heart as he sailed past, but her talons ripped into his flesh, throwing his body aside.

Glimmer reached Cato and felt for a pulse as Rue bleed out, choking on her own malice.

Katniss moved over to Marvel with Glimmer as he tried to draw breath.

"Why?" Glimmer asked.

Marvel smiled. "I- I don't know. Maybe… you- you two should," he screwed up his face in pain. "You two should be happy."

Katniss knelt down. "You were a real hero Marvel. We'll never forget you."

Marvel locked eyes with Glimmer and Katniss. "Get out. Don't- don't give in, Goddamnit."

Katniss watched as Marvel finally let go, dying with a sigh. Katniss ran as the cannon fired, hurtling away from Glimmer and Cato, her heart contracting as she thought of how Peter must have died; alone and in pain.

**Cato had woken up to see Glimmer trying not to look worried, failing, and finally pushing them onto the Cornupia. **

Cato looked at the hilt of his shattered sword in his hand, knowing he'd have to get a new one. It was that or die.

Glimmer's knife was gone, and she wanted a new one. And, though no-one admitted it, they were hungry.

Cato had tried burying Marvel, before being told he was supposed to wait for the little robot thing. Either way it was another death on his conscience.

Glimmer pointed through the trees to the golden Cornupia.

"Right, in quickly, then we can get the stuff we need." She looked around nervously. "Two cannon shots. I bet Thresh knows Rue is dead. He'll be hunting us."

Cato nodded. "We going to do this?"

They whipped around at the sound of breaking wood, Glimmer ripping out her remaining knife.

She was frowning. "I'll check around the area. Get the supplies quickly." She looked at him. "Go!"

Cato rushed out of the bush, sprinting across the grass, racing towards the Cornupia.

He saw the mouth, and thought about how many tributes were dead. Rue, Marvel, Peeta… all gone. There had to only be, what, eight of them left now. Clove, Katniss, Glimmer, himself, two unnamed tributes, Foxface and Thresh… the deadliest piece was still on the board.

He flew into the mouth, ripping up packs and filling them with food and bottles, ripping up knives and sheaths. He packed them all into two huge bags, filling them up as much as he could.

Cato reached for a sword, similar to his old one, hefting it, and testing it's weight.

Suddenly he felt pain, exploding from his face.

**Woody, Cinna and Effie watched as Cato raced towards the Cornupia.**

"Watch out Cato!" Effie screeched, clutching her 'Glato Forever' T-shirt.

Thresh was closing quickly, grinning manically. As he reached him, he slammed his face with his fist, throwing Cato down.

He grabbed Cato's jacket and threw him out of the Cornupia.

**Cato struggled to his feet, looking up to see Thresh bearing down on him.**

Thresh's leg swung out, but Cato caught it, throwing him down, and slamming him with his elbow for good measure.

Thresh kicked him away, leaping to his feet and tackling Cato. They rolled, each trying to get the advantage. District 11 landed on top, and tried to punch the poet, but the latter caught it. Thresh head-butted him, breaking his nose. Cato's fist whipped out, slamming Thresh's face away, before grabbing his arms, and pushing him over with his legs.

Thresh hit the ground, but rolled straight up.

"Just us, Cato; let's see how tough you are," he grinned.

Cato wiped blood away, and dodged Thresh's punch, blocking the next, deflecting the kick and pushing his jab up, grasping it, and spinning, throwing him over his back.

Cato brought a punch down, but Thresh caught it and slammed his knee into the formers face. He rolled up and swung at Cato. They exchanged blows, Thresh using every bit of strength he had, and Cato relying on the skill he'd honed for most of his life.

But Cato's heart wasn't in it. Thresh caught his chest with his fist, and threw him back with a sledgehammer kick.

"Just not into it, are you?" He cocked his head. "Not angry?" he grinned. "Not like that time you killed that boy. How old was he? 14? 15?"

Cato roared and ran at him, but Thresh grasped his arm as it swung out, and twisted him onto the floor. District 11 kicked him for good measure, before moving away.

"Pure aggression won't kill me."

Cato spat out blood. "DON'T MOCK ME!" he roared.

Thresh grinned, but barely dodged, as Cato kicked at him, before unleashing punch after punch on him. Thresh was worn down by one, two, three, four, five, before Cato grabbed him and slammed him onto the floor.

Thresh slapped his palms across Cato's ears, making him recoil, before slamming his fists into his stomach.

Cato rolled over, winded.

"Better," Thresh admitted, crawling to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. "But I think it's time to finish you off. Then I'm going after the bitch from District One." He drew his sword, crude, but sharp. He nodded, circling Cato. "Oh yes, we're going to have a hell of a time."

Cato looked up in him, fear surfacing, hate building.

Thresh roared a she slashed at the poet, but Cato rolled out of the way, barely missing the blade, before running for the Cornupia, Thresh giving chase.

"Fight!"

Cato hit the side and turned, to see Thresh slash at his head. He ducked and the blade bit into the Cornupia. He kicked Thresh away, dodging the next cut. District 11 stabbed at him, and Cato let it pass, before trapping it with his arm, his jacket protecting him from the worse of the blade.

Thresh grasped his neck, tripping him up with his leg, Cato falling to the ground, before bringing his blade down on his neck.

Cato caught it, using his blade proof gloves to hold the steel.

Thresh's eyes popped, but he didn't comment, merely putting all his weight on the blade.

It was a pure struggle of strength, as the blade moved closer to Cato's throat.

This was it, he was going to die. Flashes of the tribute he'd killed came up, but it was his face he was pushing the blade into, his own. Marvel was dead, his body lying on the ground. Peeta was doing his hair, but suddenly blood started running down his face, into his mouth…

"Goodbye 'Monster'," Thresh gasped in anger.

Cato felt the steel touch his neck. Suddenly it was gone, and he let all his breath out as one, as he saw Thresh and Glimmer roll away from each other.

Thresh grasped his head from where Glimmer had body slammed into him.

Glimmer had her knife drawn, and slashed at him from the ground. He caught it, and tried to punch her, but she deflected it, bringing her knife back down. Thresh caught it, and pulled her over, but she twisted, cutting a huge wound into his arm and landing on her feet with a stumble from the momentum.

Thresh growled in pain, and rose to his feet, picking up his sword and swinging at her.

Glimmer dodged, before deflecting the blade. Thresh swung at her again, but she sprung off the Cornupia's surface, jumping over the blade and cutting at him. He dodged, and she stumbled on landing, Thresh slamming into her and knocking her off her feet.

Cato, on his feet, tackled Thresh away from her. Glimmer ran at him, slashing at District 11, but Thresh knocked Cato away, and jerked back.

He kicked Glimmer away, and ran for it, sprinting off to the wheat fields.

Cato clutched his stomach as the pain kicked in. Glimmer, groaning, pulled herself to her feet.

"You… saved… me… again," Cato gasped.

"That's… two, Poetry boy," she smirked, before wincing in pain.

He looked around, watching Thresh's figure disappear. "Too close."

Glimmer moved to his side, clutching her arm. "Next time, we take him together."

"Only way."

Glimmer scowled. "No, it's not. You could beat him."

Cato raised his eyebrows. "No, you saw me. I would be dead if not for you. All my training meant shit."

Glimmer shook her head. "No! You didn't have a sword, and you weren't… angry. Your fury is the only way to beat-"

"He's not Darth Vadar, and I'm not Luke fucking Skywalker."

Glimmer's eyes burned into him, making him shift. "No, I have faith in you. You just need a cause, a reason."

Cato shook his head. "Let's get our supplies and get out of here." He glanced over at where he had killed the young tribute. "Too many memories."

Glimmer sighed as she swept past him.

**Katniss, meanwhile, was having a very dull time of it, sighing as she looked out at the dark sky.**

The Capitol anthem played, and she screwed up her face as her eyes drew hot with tears, knowing she was going to see Peter's face in the sky.

Suddenly, Claudius Templesmith's voice rung out:

"We are now allowing two tributes of the same district- no, wait, no, two district- no, tributes, oh, fuck it, two tributes can survive now! Yeah, find your friends. Have a nice night!"

Katniss sighed as she heard it. Great… that was probably for Cato and Glimmer, who were stealing the Capitol's heart. She thought how she and Peter could have gotten away, but that was over now…

The faces starting appearing in the sky.

There was Marvel. Katniss frowned; so the great 'Captain' Marvel was dead… she wondered what Woody would think.

Then Clove's face was there. Katniss frowned. Wait? But, but she'd killed Peter? They'd been fighting for days, he was dead!

She ignored Rue and waited for Peter's face to come up.

It didn't, and the screen faded.

Katniss shot up. "PETER!"

**Please tell me what you thought of it! Will Catop ever beat Thresh? Unlikely, but give the poor guy support! More Keeta next time, and I love to hear from you! Give this story publicity and please take a couple of seconds to write a simple 'good' or whatever quick word you want! Please review below!**


	20. Glimmer Throws A Spear

**Thanks for all the reviews! Great stuff! Due to popular appeal through your reviews, I've added a big chapter of Peeniss! I'm not cutting Glato, but I'm going to even them out a bit more! Please, please review, as that's how I can see what you liked, and it really is a great esteem builder if you liked it! I love to know what you liked, and what you hated. it takes two seconds, even if you put a 'lol' in or something, any review is a good one!**

**Cato spun Glimmer around happily.**

"Can you believe it?!" She cried.

Cato held her up, looking into her eyes. "We can survive, both of us."

She nodded, smiling as he'd never seen her smile before.

"Yeah… I know."

Cato let her down gently, grinning as she reached out, and fixed his hair, making sure it was styled correctly.

"Got it?" He asked, as her fingers moved through his hair.

She stopped, still smiling, her white teeth on display.

"Incredible," she said simply.

"Yeah…," Cato agreed.

They looked up at the sky, watching as Clove's face dropped down.

"Sorry about the jacket. We'll never find it now."

Glimmer nodded sadly. "Doesn't matter though." She took his hand. "Come on, let's find somewhere to sleep."

**The next morning rose, and Katniss grabbed her pack and walked to where she thought Peter would be.**

"Think like Peter. Think like Peter… where would he go if he got the chance? Where is a Peter like place? First, she'd assume he'd go to wherever Mockingjays were. The tunes he could devise… failing that, he'd go to-

The lake! Yes, the bubbling of the water, he could spend hours there. Hell, he was probably fishing!

She ran for the lake, her face lifting into, weirdly, a smile.

**Cato and Glimmer trudged to the lake, breathing the air deeply.**

They had weapons, supplies. There were only five more tributes left to kill: Peeta, Katniss (the two most useless tributes to hit the Arena), some unnamed ones, who wouldn't be hard for two Careers to take down, and then there was Thresh, but they had blades now, and together they'd kill him!

They reached the edge of the lake, smiling at each other happily.

"So, want to head off and find a place to camp down, or hunt some tributes," Glimmer smiled at him.

Cato felt his chest constrict as he thought of the boy from the Cornupia, but he had to deal with it. Only a few more deaths to face, and it was all over, and that was it. He never had to kill again.

"I think we should-," he looked over Glimmer's head, staring at something very familiar.

Glimmer looked at him, frowning happily. "What, you?" She grinned. "is it something sexy?" She teased. She looked around happily.

"Oh…"

"Yeah," Cato agreed.

Peeta Mellark was lying by the rocks, covered in green paint, a fishing chair folded next to him. He was chuckling, looking at them and giggling like a retard because eh thought they couldn't see him.

Glimmer bit her lip. "Well, he's a bit pathetic… we can't really kill him, can we?"

Cato shook his head. "No, no we can't."

Glimmer looked torn, as if she was going to regret this, but she walked on.

Cato followed behind her. "I'm proud."

Glimmer looked at him. "I thought you might." She pointed a finger at him. "You're a bad influence on me."

Cato just nodded, smiling.

**Katniss ran out, looking around.**

"Peter," she hissed, roaming around the lake for him. "Peter!"

"The… party rock is… ugh, in the house toniggghht."

"Only Peter could make a bad musical pun." She looked down along the fringes of the lake, and spotted a big green blob. Peter.

She rushed over, and knelt beside him.

"Hey, Katniss, I'm here. You probably can't see me, right?"

She looked down at his eyes, looking doubtful.

"No Peter, I would never have found you if you hadn't told me where you were."

He smiled, reaching up and wiping the blood off his face.

"How are you?"

Katniss looked at him. "Peter, you're covered in green."

He smiled. "I took you advice! I covered myself _completely!_" They both looked down at his crotch.

"Everywhere?" Katniss repeated.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, even there," she said rather grimly. He perked up. "But enough about me! What about you?"

Katniss shrugged. "I'm okay, can't complain. Nearly got killed by Rue."

Peter frowned. "I should have been there, but I was fighting Clove... persistent bastard."

Katniss nodded. "Yes, I wanted to ask you! How the hell did you kill her?! Last I saw, you took a knife to the shoulder!"

He shrugged. "Yeah, it's still there," he nodded at the knife sticking out from his shoulder.

"Peter-"

"And my leg has been pretty fucked up."

Katniss looked at him again. "Peter, you're all green."

"We've been through this."

"Yes, but why? The rocks are grey," she pointed out.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know that. But I'm moss, see?"

Katniss shook her head. "No, I don't see that!"

Peter sighed. "Look Katniss, I'm green to be the moss that covers the rocks!"

Katniss put her head in her hands. "You're so lucky they didn't notice you. Marvel and Rue are dead."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I was pissing myself as they went up."

She frowned. "But… have you moved?"

"Can't with my leg buggered up can I? Clove ripped it to shreds, the bitch."

Katniss smelt it. "But that means- eww, Peter, your pants are wet."

"They're soaked, baby," he confirmed.

"Eww, that's gross to the max."

Peter shrugged. "Gotta live with this stuff if you want to win the games, babes."

"No, you go to the frickin' toilet, you weirdo. You don't have to wet yourself!"

"Speaking of wetting yourself, I'm the only character who's taken a dump so far. Not very realistic," he added.

Katniss grabbed him. "That's because _normal _people do it OFF-SCREEN!"

"I did it off-screen," Peter defended.

"Yeah, "she pointed at his pants, "but it's still there!"

Peter ignored her. "Saw Thresh the other day! Almost shat my pants!"

Katniss rubbed her face with her hand. "But you didn't, right?"

"Nah," Katniss sighed with relief. "I did it after," he added.

She groaned. "That's what that smell is! It's like a hot foot forest."

"Yeah, well, you get the squirts," Peter admitted. "You know when we make fudge puddles in bakery?"

Katniss looked away. "Yeah, too much information."

"It's disgusting-"

"Let's go," Katniss said, looking around warily.

She reached down for Peter, as he wiped paint off his hair.

Katniss looked down in shock at his hair. "Peter, what happened?"

Peter touched his hair, fear flooding his face. "You hate it, don't you?"

He had... brown hair.

Peter looked miserable. "I've been dying my hair for the past 16 years. I- I thought you liked blond hair. I used to have blond hair, see? But then it started to darken, and now, well, now I'm as blond as Josh Hutchinson. I'm sorry."

Katniss frowned. "Peter, you really think I care about your hair colour?"

He looked shifty. "I assumed-"

Katniss took a piece of heir in her hand. "It's nice brown. I like it better."

Peter smiled. "Thanks."

"You do look a bit like Hutchison now, though."

Peter nodded. "Yeah-"

Katniss smiled. "He's not as yummy as Liam, but he'll do just fine."

Peter grinned. "Great! Now let's get me out of this dirt patch!"

Katniss reached down, and he took her hand. "Remember, we're madly in love."

Katniss laughed. "Funny."

He frowned. "I'm, I'm being serious Katniss."

She moved back. "Whoa, no way am I EVER kissing-" She looked up to see a camera trained on them. "Err, I mean-"

"Kiss me now," Peter demanded.

Katniss coughed. "It's not really- you don't want me to, do you?" She shook her head at him, telling him he was to say 'no'.

Peter studied her. "Okay... I'd love it!"

"Fine," she growled and head-butted him quickly.

"That wasn't a kiss!" Peter protested.

"It is where I come from!" She stated.

Peter opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "You messed up my hair on the train, you owe me!"

She ruffled his hair up. "Happy?"

"No! You did it again!" He protested.

"Whatever," she sighed, moving down to his leg. "You said you were wounded."

"I'm dying," Peter stated stubbornly.

She looked up. "Oh, _really."_

He nodded. "Yeah, that's it. I'm dying," he repeated stubbornly.

Katniss grasped his leg. "Let's take a look!" She lifted his leg and looked down at the skin through the ripped trouser leg.

"Okay, so Clove didn't hit me with a knife," Peter admitted.

Katniss looked down at his leg. "What am I looking at? Were you burned?"

Peter shook his head. "I was sunburnt."

Katniss looked up to see if he was joking. "Sunburnt?" She teased.

"It's very serious," he confirmed seriously.

Katniss nodded, guessing that Peter wasn't joking about this one.

"This is payback for the whole kiss thing, isn't it?"

Peter shook his head. "No, really. I've been lying the sun for hours now. I need some factor 50 Sun cream." He looked at her. "Do you have that?"

Katniss shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm sorry."

Peter winced as he moved. "It's really bad."

Katniss looked at the huge burn, scorched thing that was a bit of his leg. "Are you sure it was the _sun? _It looks like you put your leg in a fire."

"I swear the Gamemakers aimed the sun at me," he muttered.

"This is almost as stupid as that pack of Marvel trading cards I found in my bag..."

"Wait, you what?"

Katniss looked at his eager face. "I don't have them anymore."

"Why not?"

"I threw them in the lake," she said offhand.

Peter looked scandalised. "You threw brand new, _mint condition _Captain Marvel trading cards in a lake!" He turned away. "Jeez Katniss, what you did was nothing short of criminal!

"Come on," Katniss decided. "Let's get you out of here."

She went to haul a very annoyed Peter up.

"Wait," he put in. "You need to help me."

Katniss frowned. "What?"

"You need to wash my clothes and wounds and make me clean again," he explained.

Katniss sighed. "Fine," she snapped. "What do I do?"

"Kat," he started seriously, "if you want me to take my clothes off, you only need to ask."

She scowled. "Watch it you little rock."

"Or what?" Peeta challenged.

"I'll leave you to die."

"You can't," he trilled. "You're in love with me!"

She sighed. "Fine, get your clothes off. Not you pants though," she added.

She turned as Peter started taking off his clothes, babbling on about how he wished Glimmer would find him, and have sex with him while he was like this. That made Katniss mad, so she decided to show Peeta that she was better than any blonde bimbo. She hitched on a smile, and was about to turn when Peter cried out:

"Katniss! Help my pants are slipping!"

She whipped around. "I told you not to take them off-" she stopped as she saw Peeta slip and the pants plunged towards the fast moving water.

"Get those underpants!" Katniss screamed.

Peeta lunged, but they slipped out of his finger and fell in the current, getting washed away.

"Get them Kat!" Peeta shouted as Katniss dashed off, running over rocks and navigating paths, following the steadily cleaning underwear.

"Jennifer Lawrence didn't have to put up with this shit," she grumbled.

**Cato gathered up branches, collecting them for a fire, he and Glimmer were creating in a quaint little cave.**

He really hoped no-one else was using a cave as a sleeping place, because that would be a little lame. Then again, where else were you supposed to go?

He was just reaching down for a big long branch when a crackling made him jerk up.

A boy rushed out of the forest and charged him. He pushed him back easily, and looked around, ducking under a thrown rock from the tributes companion.

He drew his sword and the tribute ran. He turned around and caught the other boy by his collar as tried to wing it.

"Don't hurt me!" The boy screamed.

Cato looked at him; he was dirty and looked hungry. Only desperation could have made him attack a huge tribute such as Cato.

He frowned. Glimmer would kill him and be done with it, even wipe her hands on his jacket and steal anything he had.

"Don't move," Cato told him, dropping the tribute and levelling his sword.

The tribute stood there and looked at him. "What are you going to do?"

Cato threw his sword into the dirt. "You look cold. Have my jacket," he took it off and gave it to the tribute.

He looked at him like he was mad. "Gee, you're swell."

Cato nodded. "Get out of here quickly. Before Glimmer shows up." The tribute nodded and stammered some thanks, before taking off into the forest. Cato watched him go, thinking it was just a small bit of redemption on his soul for the death of that other tribute…

He looked around at footsteps to see Glimmer sprinting up, pale.

"What happened? Where's your jacket?" She asked, worried.

Cato swallowed. "I was attacked by two tributes, but I fought them off. "

Glimmer put a hand on his chest. "You're not hurt?"

Cato shook his head. "I'm fine."

She nodded. "Good, that's good." Her face hardened. "I'm going to kill that tribute, mark my words."

He smiled at her. "Thanks for caring."

She brushed down his shirt. "That's all I seem to be doing nowadays."

"What's with the spear?" Cato asked, pointing at it in her hand.

She looked at it. "Oh, I was thinking of getting some meat, I don't know. I'm no good at this."

Cato took the spear from her as he heard rustling. She looked alert, but all that stired was a deer.

"Think we should get it?" She asked.

Cato frowned. "Well, yeah, it's food, right?"

She nodded. "Great," she looked up at him. "How do we do that?"

He swallowed. "You don't know?"

"My idea of hunting was heading to the local store."

"Well, erm-"

"Yes?" She looked at him expectantly.

He licked his lips, before looking down at her. "Why me?"

"You're a guy, right? You learn this stuff."

Cato raised his eyebrows. "I was trained to hunt people."

"Stick it" Glimmer decided. "That's it. Go on, just spear it."

He hefted the spear. "Here goes...," he threw the spear.

"Holy shit!" Glimmer exclaimed. "That must have been 15 metres!" She looked at him, before running a hand up his arm. "Cato, that's actually pretty hot."

Cato's eyes widened. "Yeah?"

"Yes."

He started sweating and stammering. "Gr-gr-great, let's go to bed! I- no, not- I don't mean-" Glimmer watched him, amused. "Not together! Not- no, I'd like to- no, that's wrong, no, you're- very attractive, but- I'm not sure we're- you see where I'm coming from?"

Glimmer nodded, before pushing him back in the direction of the cave.

"Come on, Casanova."

"**It says here to soak your Pee- they got your name wrong, Peter, for ten minutes."**

After getting Peeta's pants back and rolling him into the stream, Peeta and Katniss did a weird three legged walk towards their cave.

"Peter, you don't look so good," Katniss commented.

Peter shook his head. "I'm good."

He was pale and sweaty and his leg was started to ooze.

"No, you don't look good Peter."

He looked at her. "I'll be fine."

Katniss gaped at him. "Oh yeah? And how do you know that?"

Peter shrugged. "I'm a main character. I can't die."

Katniss looked at him sadly. "No, not any more."

Peter looked at her. "Yeah, I am."

"No, look, the author had a decision between Glato and-"

"Peeniss?"

"Jeez, don't call it that."

Peter frowned. "But it is, right? It's Peeniss." He looked into the distance. "Man, I love a good bit of Peeniss."

"Peter, stop it!"

"Why?"

"Look, the author chose Glato. Hell, he'll probably try to kill us off soon," she looked at the sky darkly.

"No," Peter stopped. "I don't believe it."

**Crane looked down at the map thing.**

Woody strode up. He'd just been ruffled by the people he had a bet with, but it was going great so far. Only one problem.

"Hey Crane."

Crane nodded, looking troubled, holding a piece of paper.

"What's up?" Woody asked.

Crane frowned, but didn't answer.

Woody shrugged. "Okay." He looked down at Peeta's little tracker mark.

"Right, we need to get Peeta some factor 50 sun screen."

"Can't do that," Crane stated.

Woody frowned. "What do you mean?"

Seneca turned to face him. "It's done; we have new orders. Look Woody," he turned. "The time for Canon characters is done. I'm putting an end to the Retarded Adventures of District 12."

Woody's jaw set. "You can't do this."

Crane smiled. "I think I can."

"No, we're- the author is writing about us! He won't stand for this!"

"Actually," Seneca pulled out a piece of paper. "He signed for your deaths just this morning."

Woody looked at the signature as guards grabbed him.

"You can't do this! My hair needs adjusting!"

"Your time is up Woody!"

"Before you take me away," he cried, as they dragged him away. "I need to adjust my hair. One more time?"

Seneca waved a hand. "Go ahead."

Woody pushed the two strands out of his face, but they fell back instantly, so it was a waste of time for him to have even done in the first place.

Then he was taken away.

"**Do you hear that?"**

Katniss cocked her ear. "What?" Then she heard it; a sound, like a drawing bow string.

She jerked. "The author's slaves, the Gamemakers will kill us off! We, we don't have protection anymore!"

Peeta looked at her. "What are you saying?"

"Move!"

Peter started a running limp, 'oww-ing' with each step, as Katniss started a retarded little jog. In usual District 12 fashion, they even made a mockery of running for their lives.

Arrows started coming out of the trees as the story turned against them.

Peter was hit in his wounded leg by a spike.

"Fuck it!" He cried before sprinting and diving into his cave mouth.

Katniss held her mouth against the flying pus from his leg and dove after him, sliding out of danger.

They panted there, realising that the author no longer favoured them, and rued how much harder it'd be to survive with no skills and not even canocity protecting them now.

Then Katniss turned and saw what Peter had in his cave…

**Please tell me what you thought of Peeta's fudge puddles (his shit) and Katniss having to look after him. I'd love to know if you liked the Glato/Peeniss, so please take two seconds to review! It's all I get for writing this stuff, and any review, no matter how short is appreciated! It also builds up it's prestige so hopefully other people will read! Thanks for reading at any rate! Favourite if you can or follow! Please support this story!**


	21. Get Rich Quick!

**It's my birthday, so please review the chapter! All you have to do is a quick 'Lol' or something. Not much, but it would be appreciated! Hope you enjoy this, and please review!**

**Peter and Katniss huddled in the cave, safe from the fact that they could now be killed off because the author had decided to go with Glato.**

"Where did you get all this stuff again?" Katniss asked more calmly than when she'd first seen it all.

Peeta's cave was full of stuff; weapons of every kind, including a sniper rifle, and beds, food, water, anything you can imagine. Even a potato peeler!

Peter shrugged. "You know I have loads of sponsors?"

Katniss moved to sit next to Peeta, lying on the ground, his leg tied up and nodded.

"Yeah, well they got me all this. They think it'd be funny if I survive. I know I'm crap," Peeta admitted.

Katniss looked at his downcast face. "No Peter, you're brilliant. I wish I was you."

Peeta smiled. "You don't mean that."

"No I don't," she agreed. "Anyway, where can we get some food?"

Peter looked at the pile that Katniss had just devoured sadly. "Have to get someone to deliver something."

"How'd you get them to deliver it before?" Katniss asked.

Peeta sighed. "Oh, they gave me stuff when I talked about you. Like, when I fought Clove for you, when I masturbated to you."

Katniss' eyes widened, her face stretched in a forced grin, but she didn't comment.

"Yeah, when I pretended to fuck-"

Katniss swooped in and gave him a kiss to shut him up.

Peter's face registered shock.

A package dropped outside.

Katniss grinned. Yup, keep doing this romantic crap, and she'd be rolling in it!

Peter looked at her. "I love you."

Katniss nodded. "I know. Now go be a good lover and get that package!"

Peeta looked down at his leg. "Sorry Kat, legs really hurt-," she kissed him. "I'll get it, you sit down!" He insisted, before standing up and limping out to get it.

Ten minutes later, with Peeta lying on the ground, and Katniss feeding him food, packages were dropping like crazy.

"Here you go, Peter."

He took one look before turning his nose up. "That has plums in it. I don't want that!"

Katniss frowned. "You'll do what I say, you little stick!"

Peter turned his face away. "Make me!"

Katniss scooped some up, and forced a smile. "The train is coming, choo choo. Open up for it! It needs a tunnel!"

Peter looked at her suspiciously, before opening his mouth.

She shoved it in and gave him a kiss. "Good boy."

Peeta ate a lot more after that.

"Hey Katniss," Peeta had just been tricked into eating five packages of baby food and looked a little sick, but his eyes locked onto her. "Can you lie next to me?"

Katniss laughed nervously. "How would that look? Like we're getting cagey!"

"Please. I've never been touched by a girl."

She sighed. "Erm, fine, okay." She curled up next to him, realising that because Peter was dying of fever he was actually quite warm.

She put a hand on his chest, because she might as well get something out of this. She looked at Pee-

**Gale watched the TV moodily.**

He dumped some crappy stew into an old guys bowl before shoving him away.

"I want more, young man!" He demanded.

Gale looked down at him, still annoyed that Katniss was getting off with Peeta 'Bread' Mellark.

"Fuck off cobwebs! Stuff to do!" He shoved his ladle in the guy's face, causing him to fall.

"Can we turn that crap off?!" Gale cried, pointing at the screen.

Unfortunately, the Peacekeepers heard him. They walked up.

"Do you want to turn off Capitol demanded television?" One asked.

Gale went pale. "Well, no-"

"You just asked for that crap to be turned off!"

He nodded. "Yeah, but only because- I mean- we don't have to watch it all day!"

The Peacekeeper frowned. "True, but… wait, you're obviously not a Peeniss lover!"

Gale laughed. "That sounds like the thing I shove into girls!"

The Peacekeeper went red. "Hey, that shipping is sacred!"

"Why do you care if I hate it?"

The Peacekeepers opened their jackets to show their 'PeetaxKatniss' T-Shirts.

"Oh," Gale started. "Look, I didn't-"

"We hear you dissing them again, and we'll kill you."

Gale watched them walk away, before muttering:

"Gaylords…"

"What'd you say!?"

Gale turned as another group of Peacekeepers walked in, pointing at him.

"Err, stew's on the house, fuckers!" Gale threw the vat at them, before sprinting out of the door, and off to the woods.

"Peeniss hater! GET HIM!" Peeta's Dad shouted.

All of District 12 raced after Gale into the woods.

"**It was getting dark outside and suddenly…"**

Katniss waited with bated breath.

"A huge monster rose up from the ground, and made his way over to the 5'0 tall girl-"

"Peter, I'm nearly 5'2."

He waved a hand. "Okay, whatever. Anyway, he made his way up to the _nearly 5'2 girl _and…"

Katniss gasped. "What?"

"He cuddled her!" He wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, Katniss giggling unwillingly.

She looked at Peter looking down at her, and thought now would be a good time to kiss him. She tried to stop smiling, because Peter was actually quite… funny, if you accepted he was a little weird.

She kissed him, and this time she felt a little urge to keep it going, just a bit longer…

She felt, rather than heard the sound of the package.

Peter looked pissed off as Katniss scurried outside to get it. He'd been so close, working all the Peter charm on her…

She curled up next to him, holding out the extra food package they'd been given.

"Tell me about you and me, Peter. The first time you saw me?"

Peter sighed. "Well, first time I saw you, I was like 'Mum, Mum, is that an angel!?"

Katniss frowned. "That's from 'Spider-Man'."

"Don't make it not true," Peter responded. "No… it was very boring, me falling in love with you. First time I saw you, you had your braid in two instead of one, and you were hopping up and down, desperate to sing the Valley Song, you remember?" Katniss nodded. "Yeah, well, MockingJays only mimic those they like, the voices which catch them. I swear, every bird outside fell silent, and I knew I was fucked. You never sung again though…," Peeta sighed. "Never again… maybe for Gale, I don't know-"

"No," Katniss stated, touched by Peter's feelings. "Never again."

He swallowed. "After that, well, I followed you home every day after school."

"Err, okay-"

"Every day," Peeta repeated, looking at her. "I waited outside your window for hours-"

"Peter-"

"Hours… once it rained, but I stayed until I was called in for dinner."

Katniss looked away. "Bet your Mum cooked-"

"No, not mine. Yours."

Katniss sat up. "I never saw you!"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, one day my Dad asked me to ask your Mum if she'd like to go on a date with him-"

"Not surprised. My Mum's a hot piece of ass."

"Yeah, so I did, she said no, but I got dinner. Yum. You were there, but you didn't notice I was there."

Katniss racked her memory. Maybe it was true… it'd explain why Prim got free bread all the time…

"But, I'd have seen you-"

"Nope. You ignored me, and that hurt, but it was perfect to just see your face," he gushed. "You're so beauti-"

"Okay, let's go and hunt!" Katniss shot up. "We can talk there!"

Peter sat up. "Okay, sure, dying here, but why not?"

**Cato and Glimmer rested against a tree.**

Cato knew Glimmer was angry because they'd lost the meat they were after, and food supplies were getting low.

"We'll find more," Cato assured her. "Until then, tell me a bit more about yourself." He wanted to try and add the information to a poem he was still writing.

Glimmer raised her eyebrows. "Okay… let me think… I'd like to get married some time," she started, "maybe fill a house with kids, but it'd have to be someone special."

Cato didn't voice the view that he hadn't expected this; he'd learnt not to take Glimmer at face value.

"What do you plan to do if we win the games?" he asked.

She looked at him, before blushing and looking away. "I'll- I'll be a mentor. That's it, that's hwta I want to do."

"Don't you have to have a talent, or a hobby?"

Glimmer wrung her hands. "Yes, I do recall-"

"Go on, you can tell me."

Glimmer kept her eyes averted. "It's embarrassing."

Cato turned her face towards his and stared into her eyes.

"I'm a huge poetry loving wuss. Try me."

"You're not a wuss, you're just sensitive," she said.

"Please?"

Glimmer forced her head out of his hand. "I- my parents think it's stupid-"

"Who cares about those dickheads?" Cato asked.

She gave a nervous laugh, before blurting out.

"I want to act."

Cato stared at her, but it made sense; she was always looking for attention (Cato's new mission to provide it), and she seemed to hate her life, her parents, herself etc. Made sense she'd want to slip into another skin.

She looked at him. "But classic acting; Shakespeare."

"The guy with the beard?"

She smiled. "Him."

"You any good?" Cato asked.

Her eyes flashed. "I'm brilliant. I can remember every line, just like you with your poetry. Maybe I'll teach you."

Cato leant back. "Please, I have all the time in the world. The World is your stage." He gestured to the forest.

Glimmer looked away, before saying:

"By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But come, now I will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on disposition and, ask me what you will, I will grant it."

Cato smiled: her refined accent from life in District 1 fit the words perfectly, and her arrogance and vanity gave her words a very emotional edge.

She looked at him, a mocking smile on her face. "You were saying?"

"Then love me, Rosalind."

Her eyebrows went straight up, her mouth open slightly in surprise as Cato grinned back at her.

She looked away, before giving him a condescending smile.

"Yes, faith, will I, Fridays and Saturdays and all."

Cato moved his face into a more desperate expression, moving on his hands and knees towards her.

"And wilt thou have me?"

Glimmer stood up, looking down on him. "Aye, and twenty such."

Cato stood up defiantly. "What sayest thou?"

Glimmer moved her head towards him, smiling at him mockingly.

"Are you not good?"

Cato drew himself up. "I hope so."

Glimmer turned away, waving a hand. "Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?" She gestured at a true, meant to be Celia. "Come, sister, you shall be the priest and marry us." She turned back to a chuckling Cato. "Give me your hand, Orlando," Cato diligently gave his hand over for her to grasp. She turned back to the tree. "What do you say, sister?"

Cato moved in. "I think Celia has gone mute, Rosalind."

Glimmer looked at him. "Yes, I thin k you're right. So… will you have me?"

He nodded. "I will."

"Aye, but when?"

Cato frowned. "Why, now, as fast as she can marry us."

"Then you must say, 'I take thee, Rosalind, for wife'," she explained simply.

"I take thee, Rosalind, for wife."

"I might ask you for your commission," Glimmer waved a hand, "but I do take thee, Orlando for my husband."

"How generous of you," interjected Cato.

Glimmer laughed. "Oh, very good." She smiled up at him, her eyes shining. "I can't believe you know Shakespeare… actually, I can, come to think of it."

Cato smiled. "You know me."

"I think I'm beginning to…," she said. "So Cato, you never told me what you wanted to do if we won?"

He locked his eyes on her own, grey to emerald. "I want to go to the theatre and watch 'As You Like It'. I want to have a house, and fill it with children. I want to write my poetry in peace, and I want to read it to a girl who is not so far gone that she is irretrievable, because I'm staring at her right now."

Glimmer took a breath, gazing at him. "We could set up a place for that in the garden…," she finally whispered. "No blood, or knives or pain. You could teach me."

"I'd be glad to."

"And the children, they need to know about Robert Frost too," she stated earnestly.

Cato nodded. "You remember?"

"Not what he wrote," she replied, staring into his eyes.

"We'll have plenty of time to rectify that."

Glimmer almost choked when she smiled. "I don't want to be my parents."

Cato frowned mockingly. "Well, I don't give a fuck about fighting the Capitol, and I swear I'm not dick, so-"

She hugged him around the middle, resting her head on his chest.

"How many can we have?"

"As many as you want," Cato stated gently.

She looked up at him. "Three?"

"Make that five. We have a house to fill."

She smiled, burying her head into his body. "I can't get the picture of the Poetry corner out of my head."

He lifted her chin up with his had gently. "Then don't. It's our cause, our reason to fight." He looked into her eyes. "Something worth killing for."

She nodded, her face hardening.

**Peter was too weak to go hunting, it transpired, so they stayed in the cave instead.**

"Tell me," he coughed his face white and pallid, "what you're going to do with your victor's money?"

Katniss looked at him, concerned. She was starting to get attached to this caring Peter; Gale always went on about get-quick-rich schemes.

She thought, before it hit her. "Spend it on loads of Jennifer Lawrence stuff," Katniss gushed.

Peeta frowned. "You like her, right?"

"Yes!"

"More than 'Waterloo Road'?"

She nodded.

Peter thought about that. "Okay."

"I want to be her sister!"

He looked at her like she was mad. "Erm, you sure? Weirdo," he muttered.

She scowled. "Hark who's talking, Mr. Sit-In-A-Tree."

"At least that was for the love of my life, who is female! You have some gay love."

"Racist, gayist stalker!" She cried.

A package hit the ground; someone obviously liked Jennifer Lawrence. That, or they approved of Peeta sitting in trees, trying to catch a glimpse of Katniss naked.

"Tell me something happy," Peter asked, annoyed.

Katniss sighed, before falling back onto Peeta's arm. "Fine… did I tell you about when we got Prim's goat?"

"No, but it sounds fascinating."

"Right, okay… so Gale and I-"

"Gale?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, my tall, handsome, hunky second love interest."

Peeta scowled.

"_So we were walking around town, and we had just strode into the back gardens of the town houses…" We saw this goat:_

"_Hey," Gale pointed. "That looks good."_

_And I pointed out this huge shoulder wound it had. (Peeta flinched next to her, but she ignored it.)_

_I said, "Good luck with that."_

_Gale to face me, grinning. "I have an idea!"_

"_This isn't one of those 'Get Rich Quick' ideas, is it?"_

_He smiled. "You say that like it's a bad thing!"_

"_Yeah, because the last one was so great!" I said sarcastically. _

"_Okay," he shrugged, "admittedly, the dolphin shaped exercise bike was not the best-"_

"_Oh, really? That one was gold! I mean, who doesn't want to-"_

"_Well, I, for one, would probably exercise more often if the experience was more like straddling a toothy, overly-peppy sea mammal." Gale flung his hands down. "I mean, inventing a stationary exercise bike shaped like a dolphin. The blowhole would be a drinking fountain. "Goodbye," risk of getting Type 2 Diabetes; "hello," becoming one step closer to achieving my childhood dream of being a marine life-imprisoning Sea World employee was GOLD!"_

_I just nodded. "Yeah, keep thinking that."_

"_Anyway," Gale pointed, "we can get that goat to make milk, and sell it off!"_

_I shrugged. "This wasn't too bad an idea."_

"_Thank you."_

_So we stole the goat and got it home. Turned out the damn thing didn't do milk._

"_What a wasted investment!" Gale shouted. He scowled, before perking up. "Guess it's time for 'Miss Tress'."_

"_Dare I ask?"_

"_The greatest television show of all time hasn't been created yet," he exclaimed, spreading his hands in his vision, "and that's because it's in my head. Wouldn't you like to watch a __Sex and the City__-meets-__Strangers with Candy__-esque sitcom, in which the leading lady is a tacky, aging, bleach blonde, tanorexic, body glitter-covered hairstylist/sexual exhibitionist who meets guys on Craigslist Casual Encounters? But what happens when she wants one of these encounters to __not__ be so casual, and falls for an unavailable man? There will be love. There will be perms. There will be lots of garish lingerie by Fredrick's of Hollywood. There will be a sassy gay shampoo boy, who double times as a sage best friend. There will be cat hair all over __everything__ in this lady's apartment, and X-rated pictures of her on the Internet. Help me get __Miss Tress__ on Capitol TV!"_

"_No," I stated firmly. "I thought we'd hit rock bottom with the dolphin bike, but this is worse."_

"So," Katniss finished. "Gale went to start his show; it failed, obviously, and we kept the goat. We call her Lady now. More for Prim than me."

Peter was frowning. "This goat… you said you found her in town?"

"Yeah, behind a house."

"White, with a few black spots?"

"That's what I said," Katniss confirmed.

"That's my goat!" Peter cried.

She frowned. "Errr, no, it's not. We stole it from, from… ah… shit."

Peeta sat up. "What have you been doing to Throatripper?!"

"Who? We call her Lady," Katniss said simply.

"No uh. HE'S called Throatripper! He's a trained fighting goat! We made tons of money from him! But then, he was stolen, by you! We have to eat stale bread now, and one of my brothers died! Because of you!"

Katniss shrugged. "Sorry Pete."

"Not good enough."

She picked at her teeth. "Yeah, anyway… damn, if Gale knew about that, he'd go off making a fortune-"

**Gale dragged Lady through the streets, with Prim dogging his heels.**

"We're going to make tons of money from this stupid goat, then, we'll be rich and we can move to the Capitol!"

Prim shrugged. "I'm not sure. Where are we taking him again?"

Gale pushed past into the crowd of the fighting arena and started signing Throatripper up for the match.

Prim's eyes widened. "Are you sure about this? I'm not sure he can fight anymore!"

Gale led Lady into the Arena. "Sure I'm sure. I know what I'm doing!" he said happily.

**Lady got into the Arena and looked around desperately. He hadn't been in a match for years now.**

Recently he had been enjoying the good life, retirement if you will. He looked around as a goat charged him.

"**Oooh!"**

Gale covered Prim's eyes as Lady was speared on the horns of the other goat.

"Lady!" Prim screamed, pushing past Gale and running for the goat.

"Get back," Gale hissed, before running after her. "You're going to get yourself in trouble." He ran next to her as she hugged the dead goat, tears falling down her throat.

The Betters came up to Gale.

"Sorry, but now you have to pay up."

Gale jerked up. He licked his lips, "pay?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, you owe us over 200,000 Capitol Credits."

Gale raised a hand. "When I said I'd pay, I meant if the outcome was in my favour." They moved forward. "Wait, I'll pay up! Just don't- wait, what's- no- NO!"

"**Probably failed," Katniss remarked.**

**Tell me what you thought of the Glato, Peeniss or gake bits, or just put down a 'lol' as that's good enough! It's my birthday, so please take the time to make a quick review! Either way, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	22. Poker At The Cornucopia

**Sorry for the really late update! But please continue to review, as I love to hear what you guys think of this story! Please take a second of your time to write something!**

"**Hello there!"**

Claudius Templesmith's voice rang out happily. "I'm going to invite al of you to a feast!"

Peter sat up. "Oh! Goody, I'd love some more food!"

"Yes! But this is no ordinary feast! Well, actually it is. But we all know you're starving! So come on down!"

Katniss frowned. "That's great, but where?"

"Down at the Cornucopia, and if you don't come, we'll kill you! When is it, I hear you ask. Right NOW!"

"Arghhh!" Peter screamed.

"Arghh," Katniss cried trying to struggle up so they wouldn't miss the feast.

"_Gotta leave town, got another appointment."_

"Why," panted Katniss, "is 'Cold Hard Bitch playing?"

Peter shrugged. "It sounds good as you run for something!"

They sprinted through the forest to the song, dodging trees, Peeta still holding his blanket, the thing trailing behind them.

"_Gonna take her out, she's my latest attraction."_

Cato and Glimmer burst out of the trees, also looking as if they had been dragged out of bed too, Cato throwing a blanket over himself.

The four of them sprinted through the trees, panting as they drew up to the plain that the Cornucopia was standing.

"Why is Jet playing?!" Glimmer panted as they tore across the grass.

"Ask him!" Katniss pointed at Peeta. "He attracts weird stuff!"

They got up to the side, panting. Katniss clutched her stomach. "Too much exercise… no more… please."

They were looking at a table, a poker table, set for four people.

Claudius voice doomed out. "Probably wondering what's with the table? Well, whoever wins the poker game, gets the food! No killing!"

Glimmer scowled. "No _killing? _But that's the best part!"

Cato's eyes twitched. He remembered some sexual abuse he'd faced while playing poker. He started sweating.

Glimmer frowned. "Oh, what's wrong now?"

Cato gave a weak smile. "I have bad poker memories."

Peeta sat down. "I don't, and I happen to be awesome at poker! Hit me!" A pair of cards sprung out.

Foxface came up, panting. She was still wearing pyjamas.

Glimmer grinned. "Look, its ginger. Let's kill her!" She lunged forward, but Cato gripped her arms.

"No, Glimmer. Leave her."

She looked up at Cato appealingly. "_Please_ let me kill her!"

"No," he pushed her aside and took at seat.

Foxface sat down. "Poker, eh? Well, I'm the smartest here."

Peter frowned. "Yeah? Well, I can do the robot!"

Foxface raised her eyebrows, smiling at him.

Katniss scowled. "I hate my partner."

Thresh came up with two other tributes following him.

Glimmer was almost frothing. "_Come on! _I have to be allowed to kill those two District 8 rejects!" She frowned as she looked at one. "Hey! He has your coat, Cato!"

Cato shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah? Weird huh? Must have stolen it."

The kid blinked. "You gave it to me."

Glimmer moaned. "_Cato. _We talked about this!"

Cato nodded. "Yes, I know."

"What did I say?"

"Don't try to rescue the tributes," he intoned.

"Yes, so don't! It's hard enough trying to survive without Saint Cato rescuing more than he's killing!"

Katniss looked over at Cato, as Thresh took his seat. The game begun almost instantly, the two other unnamed tributes looking angry (they weren't allowed to play, so they wouldn't get any food, but they weren't exactly going to pick a fight with Cato or Thresh).

Cato was a quandary for Katniss. He was compassionate, despite hailing from District 2, the unofficial Warrior district, and kind. He was certainly a deeper thinker than anyone else at the table. Despite this though, Katniss wouldn't want to face him in a fight. Stupidly brave was how she would sum up Cato's courage, taking on anything or anyone.

Peeta put down his cards with a sigh, smiling. Thresh growled, Foxface frowned, but Katniss got to see another side of Cato.

He threw down his cards, swearing. He looked quite unhinged, and she noticed how thin his face was looking. He obviously hadn't been getting food, and this was fuelling his rage. Glimmer leant in and whispered something, and Katniss didn't like that smile which formed on Cato's face. Glimmer was the puppet master and Cato was Pinocchio.

Peter continued to mop up the cards quickly, smiling as he cleaned up shop, the pile of food stacking up on his side.

Thresh was looking mad, but Cato was shaking. Katniss leant in to Peter.

"You might want to pull back a bit."

Peeta shook his head. "No way! I'm murdering these suckers!"

"Yeah, but look at Cato! he's going insane."

"He's nothing. Completely harmless."

Katniss wasn't sure. This was a side she hadn't seen. Glimmer looked delighted by it though, smiling happily and whispering stuff which just seemed to make Cato even angrier.

The game went on, and Peeta continued to win easily. He looked down at his cards as a parachute drifted down, landing next to his hand.

No-one noticed it, as food detraction was becoming more apparent. Glimmer was muttering something about needing to go on a diet, while Thresh was trying to eat the cards.

Katniss opened up the box, and in it was an Ace!

"Peter!" She whispered. She handed him the card. Peeta's face lit up. "Brill! This will perfect."

They all threw down their last cards. They all moaned as Peter revealed a full hand.

"Thank you," he said, as Katniss grabbed the food bag and started packing it up happily. "You have all been brilliant, but in the end, the best person won. I know-"

Cato stood up. "You have an extra card." he pointed at Peeta's cards. There were six, not the legal five.

Katniss gaped. The idiot had forgotten to take away the extra card!

"You cheated," Cato's expression was murderous.

Peeta spread his hands. "But this is the Hunger Games, so it's all legal!"

Glimmer sat up, grinning, from where she'd been tearing grass moodily. "Yes! You're right!" She glanced at Cato. "Let's kill him, and take the food!"

Weapons were drawn all around the table. The two random tributes ran off, Thresh ripped out a weird scythe sword thing, Cato a sword, Glimmer a long knife, and Foxface a little rock.

"Seriously," Thresh said, looking at the crappy weapon.

Foxface dropped it.

"He's mine!" Cato roared, looking completely insane. He lunged at Peter.

Katniss cupped her mouth as Peeta dodged, bringing out a small knife. He lunged at Cato, but the latter grabbed it easily, and twisted, sending Peeta to the floor.

Katniss ran when Peeta told her too, right off into the woods.

**Woody, Effie and Cinna watched as Thresh, Glimmer, Foxface and Cato dragged Peeta off to the lake.**

"God no!" Effie screamed as they started laying into Peter. "They forgot to put on an apron! Now it'll go all over their clothes!"

Woody stared. "Seriously?! That's your concern?"

The television went blank. "We are sorry to interrupt," Claudius Templesmith's voice stated, "but the scenes are too violent for public viewing."

Woody, Effie and Cinna couldn't even imagine what horrors Peeta was going through, if it had to be taken off the HUNGER GAMES!

**Katniss watched as Peeta was tortured by the Careers tributes. It was slightly disturbing to say the least.**

Cato was appearing a little less taken with the idea since he calmed down, but she didn't have any sympathy for him. Then again, he'd helped her before… She had to risk making contact. She was not going to describe what she was watching, but Peter's leg was well and truly gone. She wasn't going to describe what Thresh had done to it with a hot sword, but it wasn't pretty.

**Cato felt a little down. Okay, so he had been key in the capture of Peeta and all that, but it wasn't his fault, he swore!**

He'd been angry, and he hadn't had any food, and Peeta had been mocking him, and it was just pretty bad to say the least. He was just thinking about how crappy his life was when he felt a something tap his shoulder.

He turned to see Katniss, huddled there, her eyes wild. Glimmer would kill her, but Cato had already done enough today.

"Get out of here," he said glumly. "It's over… Peeta's dead… Thresh is going to kill him… then he's going to kill us. It's a mess."

Katniss grabbed him. "Okay, you lost control, but you can fix this! Take Peter, get out of here!"

"What about Glimmer?"

She rolled her eyes. "You can take her too, if you want."

Cato nodded. "You're right! I'll- yes, this is- okay!"

Katniss frowned. "I thought it'd be harder than this."

But Cato was invigorated. "Yes! Fuck Thresh, and fuck Glimmer too! Let's go!"

Katniss watched as Cato ran off.

"No, Cato! Get back!" She reached out for him. He turned around to face her and waved.

"Yeah, hi," she waved back. "Now get back here!"

He didn't though, instead moving to where Peter was hanging from some bars over water, stained with blood. Peeta lifted his head as he saw them approach, blinking back blood from his eyes as he saw Cato and Katniss.

"What's going on? Did we win?" He asked.

Katniss frowned. She couldn't exactly say 'no' after all he'd been through to try and win them some food. Damn, she reflected, this story had gotten dark.

"Come here," Cato said gently, undoing Peter's bindings. But the baker shied away, his face contorted.

"You're the one who nearly ripped my leg off with your sword!" He cried. "I'm not getting anywhere near you!"

"Come on," Cato said, "let by gone, be by gones."

"You nearly lost me my leg!"

Katniss looked at the leg in question, dripping blood and pus filled. "Well, don't worry, Peeta-"

"Peter!"

She rolled her eyes. "You might lose it yet."

Peter's face paled. "Get me out of here!" He insisted, forgetting about Cato's role in torturing him.

"Hurry up!" Katniss hissed, as Cato tried to pull on the ropes, the muscles in his neck bulging. "And why don't you just cut it?!"

Cato glanced around, his face reddening. "Erm, Glimmer took my sword away… I was getting too, erm, _enthusiastic, _with Peeta's-"

"Peter!"

"-torture," he glanced at Peter. "Sorry about that."

Peeta waved a bound hand. "Sure, sure, you're forgiven if you get me out of here!"

Katniss looked around as Cato started working on the ropes. Much to her horror, she saw Thresh striding towards them.

She grasped Cato's shoulder. "Hurry up! Thresh is coming!"

Cato looked around and saw him. "Aw, shit…," he turned back to Peter and tugged at the ropes. "Fuck, that ginger girl does good knots."

Katniss scooped up a rock and pushed it into his hand. "How about that?"

Cato gave her a 'bitch, please' look. "We're not in some crappy escape movie. Rocks don't work."

"Just try it!" Katniss urged.

Cato shook his head to show her clearly what he thought of _that _idea, but he raised the rock.

Katniss, Cato and Peeta (riding on Cato's back), ran through the camp, trying to avoid the surviving tributes.

They rounded a corner and came upon Foxface, an apple in her hand. She looked at them stupidly, before Cato dropped Peeta in the mud and rose to his full height, towering over her.

"Move on," he growled.

She backed off, allowing them through. Peter gave her a little wave as he bounced on Cato's back. The three of them made their way into the woods, darting in between trees. They heard a shout and the sound of voices.

"Damn, the rozzers are after us!" Katniss cried. "Faster!" She urged Cato.

Cato was drenched in sweat; he glared up at Katniss. "This baker boy weighs more than he looks!"

"So I work out!" Peter cried out defensively.

"So you eat a lot," Cato replied.

"Hurry the fuck up-," Katniss started, before she felt an object connect with her neck, throwing her to the floor.

She blinked, trying to clear the lights from her eyes. She felt queasy, and her neck felt as if she'd been stabbed. Blood ran into her eyes, and she searched for the source quickly, scared. She could feel swelling on her neck, but no blood; that belonged to Peter, bleeding next to her.

She caught his eye, and he raised his eyebrows. "Can we go now…," he trailed off as he looked over Katniss' head.

She turned to follow his sight and saw Cato wrestling with Glimmer, the flash of metal very visible. As they watched, Glimmer gained the upper hand, coming round to Cato's back and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"RUN!" Cato cried, trying to throw Glimmer off.

Katniss didn't need to be told twice, and Peeta seemed to realise that he didn't have too much trouble walking after all. In fact, he was ahead of her as they sprinted into the woods, tearing through the trees. Once they were a good distance away, Peter collapsed in the dirt, his leg's blood pooling around him.

"Should we go back?" He asked from the ground.

Katniss glanced back, before shaking her head. "Screw it."

"Katniss," he moaned. "That's not very nice."

"We're in the Hunger Games!"

"And they could benefit from a good bit of courtesy," he replied stubbornly.

Katniss waved an arm behind her. "Well, go then. No-one's stopping you."

Peter tried to speak, but stopped, thinking. "We could go back later," he finally admitted.

Katniss nodded, hauling him up. "Yeah, let's do that."

**Cato threw Glimmer off and dove for the knife.**

"_Cato!"_ She snarled, trying to wrap her arms around his neck again.

He jerked around with the knife, slashing at her wildly. Glimmer danced aside and drove her boot into his face.

Cato recoiled, crying out in pain as the blood washed over his mouth from his broken nose. He was kicked onto his front as Glimmer levelled the knife at his throat.

"Why?" She demanded. "I thought you _wanted _to kill them? I thought you-"

"You thought wrong!" Cato bellowed, pushing himself up. "WRONG! I don't want to kill tributes!" He wiped blood from his face.

Glimmer scowled. "News flash, Cato. We're in the Hunger Games! It's the only way we're getting out of here!"

"I have a choice!" He argued.

"Small choice, to live or die," she retorted.

"Whatever I do, I don't want to do it with you!" Cato decided.

Glimmer's face could have been made of stone. She sheathed her knife slowly. "We can forget about this. We can finish these games, go back to Victor's Village," she reasoned. "It's our only-"

"_Our?_" Cato echoed. He shook his head. "No, Glimmer. It's over, it was always over. This can't work; we're too different."

She gave him a mocking look. "Are you _breaking up with me?"_

"I like to think I'm terminating any ties we had."

Glimmer seemed to struggle with her emotions for a moment, before turning away. She jerked back, almost spastically, raising the knife.

"Let's hope someone else kills you, Cato, because I'd hate to do it myself." She stalked off into the forest, leaving Cato in the glade, alone. Voices sounded in the background, but he didn't pay them any mind as he turned into the forest.

"**NOOOO!"  
**Woody, Effie and Cinna cried out as they watched the television, clutching their Glimto merchandise.

"It can't happen like this!" Cinna cried out. "That's totally uncalled for!"

Woody drunk a Red Bull, before pushing two strands out of his eye, which fell back into place so it was a waste to have done it in the first place and sighed. "I hate TV shows that break up my favourite couples."

Effie excused herself, but they could hear her curses through the door.

Cinna sat back, looking glum. "At least we can root for out own District now; Peeniss."

"But they're boring!" Woody moaned.

**Please take two seconds to review about the chapter! This story is nearly finished, with only a few chapters left now! So please review, and I might try Catching Fire if I get the chance. Either way, please take a few seconds to tell me what you thought about Glimto, the poker game etc.**


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